


You and Me

by Underneath



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Kind of like... Kastle meets Die Hard?, Private Security Frank, Reporter Karen, Romance, Sexual Content, Why does my brain do this?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-07-10 23:10:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15959552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Underneath/pseuds/Underneath
Summary: It wasn’t until Curtis had recently started teasing Frank about it, calling Karen his 'girlfriend', that Frank realized he and Karen weren’t making casual small talk… they were flirting. Frank had been stumped. He didn’t flirt. He was a recently home from war, recently divorced, grumpy, bastard- and that was according to his friends. Karen was… exquisite. Why she’d flirt with mean mugged guy like him, he had no idea… but he sure as hell enjoyed it.





	1. Chapter 1

This was a bad idea.

Frank’s eyes ticked back and forth across the hall. To doors and the people walking through, to windows and the people nearby, to lines and the people waiting in them, he scanned them all thoroughly and repeatedly. Why the hell don't people listen to him? Why do they fight him every goddamn step of the way?

As far as Frank was concerned, this whole event was asking for trouble. If Frank had been Lead on this, considering the size, scale, and guest list of this thing, he’d have doubled the size of his security team. But he wasn’t Lead this time, Bill was. Frank had pressed the issue, several times, but all he got in return was a suave smile and “Frankie- it’s a bunch of rich old people eating dinner. _Relax,_ brother.”

Frank stretched his neck from one side to the other, frustrated. He and Bill had served together. Frank trusted him with his life- but this time- he thought Billy was making the wrong call. He'd actually told Frank and Curtis that since the job would be so easy, they should sit this one out, he could bring a couple of the younger guys instead. Both Curt and Frank put their foot down though, if Bill wanted to scale back the team in numbers- that was his call- but there was no way that they were going to sit on the bench for an event of this size in the middle of Manhattan. Billy was over confident. Frank would have to talk to him about it later. Right now, his priority was to maintain communication with the small team they had, and pay extra close attention to the weak spots he was becoming more aware of by the minute. Curt caught Frank’s eye from across the room and shook his head. _Dammit, Bill._

Hyper-focused, he picked up a _click click click_ of heels approaching him from behind through the din of the crowd. His mouth tipped up into a smile so small most people would miss it. He knew who those heels belonged to. He’d hoped she’d be here today, she always made these events much more bearable. He didn’t turn around. He didn’t need to. She kept walking until she was standing right beside him, so close he could feel her heat, but not touching.

“So, what do you think? Anyone here gonna give you any trouble?” She said, her voice low, amused.

“No one ever gives me trouble, ma’am.” He said, cocky enough to make her roll her eyes.

“Anyone gonna give _me_ any trouble?”

“Not on my watch.”

They didn’t turn to look at each other. They kept their gazes out toward the crowd, scanning the room with very different priorities.

  
Karen was a reporter and, like Frank, she was constantly attending these stuffy, overly priced galas, dinners, and fundraisers. Karen was there to find a story, to get a glimpse of the goings on of New York’s rich and powerful. Frank was there to keep New York’s rich and powerful safe. Who knows how many of these things they had been to without ever noticing each other? But one particular event about a year ago changed all that.

It had been a silent auction with hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, a live band, and people milling all around bidding exorbitant amounts on frivolous things for some charity or another. Karen was there, mingling and chatting people up, hunting for the scent of intrigue. She was blindsided by a huge man whose face was almost as red as the wine she nearly spilled in her hasty attempt to get out of his arms reach. It was Carlo Linetti, successful businessman, probably one of the richest men at in the room. The same Carlo Linetti that she’d just published an expose about, accusing him of multiple counts of sexual harassment of women in his organization, and the subsequent intimidation and silencing of those same women. It had been a scathing story. He deserved it. She’d never regret writing the article, but she was definitely regretting attending this particular event, now that she was facing him and he looked ready wring her neck. He was cursing and muttering all sorts of heinous things under his breath at her when he grabbed her arm, hard enough to make her yelp. He seemed ready to drag her away from the crowd when there was a blur, and suddenly Linetti was facedown on the ground, pinned there by Frank who was issuing orders to the team who’d quickly descended on the scene, in such a controlled voice, that it was hard to believe he was in the midst of wrestling another full grown man. Linetti was taken away, and Frank was up off the ground, adjusting his jacket and straightening his tie so fast that most of the party guests had no idea that the scene had even occurred.

Karen had been shaken up. Her hands trembling so badly that she couldn’t take the gulp of wine she so desperately wanted for fear of splashing it all over her face. Frank strode over, looking her up and down, scanning her for injury. The face that had been so grim a moment ago, softened as he searched her eyes.

“Are you ok, ma’am?”

“Um… yeah,” Karen was flustered. The whole thing had her blood pumping fast, but on top of all that… this guy. He was, shit… mouthwatering. A tough guy with puppy dog eyes, filling out his suit so well it should have been illegal.

By the time Karen noticed the growing concern on his face, she realized that she’d been silent way too long, staring at him like a concussed idiot.

“I mean, I’m a little shaken up, but I’m fine.” She said, blushing. “Thank you for helping me.”

“It’s what I’m here for.” He said, still searching her eyes, not 100% convinced she was alright.

He looked down at her arm and could see Linetti’s red handprint beginning to bloom on her skin. He scowled. She was going to have bruises. Without thinking he touched the marks lightly. She got goose bumps.

He stood with her in the kitchen, where he’d taken her to grab some ice for her arm. They started chatting and got to know each other. She was smart and funny, and it appeared, from the way she smiled and laughed up at him, that he could be funny too, when he wanted to be.

She learned that he was one of the Heads of Security with Anvil- the elite private security provider in the city.

He learned that she was from Vermont but had been in the city for a few years now, that she had a cat, that the only thing she liked about these frilly events was the free champagne because as much as she loved it, she never bought it for herself, and that she had to come to these events all the time but she only had two fancy dresses that she rotated out because _no way was she going to spend a million dollars on dresses for this crap._ He also learned that she was a reporter, she was ballsy as hell, not afraid of anyone or anything that came between her and getting the truth out there to the public.

After than night he’d started looking for her name in the bylines. She was good, and he read everything she wrote. Whenever they saw each other out at these events they always made time for each other, to catch up and share stories and make each other laugh. Or, to simply stand, side-by-side, smirking out at the crowd, like everyone else was the butt of their own private joke. It wasn’t until Curtis had recently started teasing Frank about it, calling Karen his _girlfriend_ that Frank realized he and Karen weren’t making casual small talk… they were flirting. Frank had been stumped. He didn’t flirt. He was a recently home from war, recently divorced, grumpy, bastard- and that was according to his friends. Karen was… exquisite. Why she’d flirt with mean mugged guy like him, he had no idea… but he sure as hell enjoyed it.

Finally giving in to the urge to look at her, Frank turned his head and appreciated the view. She looked gorgeous, as always, draped in one of her two fancy dresses, with her blond hair in waves and her lips bright red. She was wearing his favorite. It was black and silky, and it floated over her as she moved. The straps seemed barely there on her shoulders, like the slightest brush of his finger could send the whole thing gliding into a pool around her on the floor.

_Whoa. Watch it, asshole. She doesn’t need you thinking about her like that…_

But, with the way Karen allowed her gaze to drift over him a bit before she met his eyes, maybe she wouldn’t mind all that much…

“I’m glad you got my back, Frank.” She smiled. “Now I can venture into the wild, unafraid of observing these beasts in their natural habitat.”

She returned to searching the room and must have spotted something interesting because her eyes lit up and she whispered, “Gotcha.”

Frank choked on a quick laugh. “Happy hunting.”

Karen was already a few steps away, but she turned quickly with a wicked red grin and gave him a wink.

Curtis, who had clearly been watching the whole exchange from across the room, caught Frank’s eye again, this time raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Frank rolled his eyes and spoke into the radio surveillance piece hidden in his lapel, “Keep your eyes on those doors, Hoyle.”

“Sure thing, boss.” Curt’s sing-song voice came through Frank’s earpiece, letting him know his orders were somehow being obeyed and undermined at the same time.

Suddenly, it was Billy’s voice in his ear, “ _Cut the chitchat_.”

For as lackadaisical as Billy had been in the preparation, he was all business now. Frank had never seen him so on edge. It was one of the reasons Frank was waiting until tomorrow to once again revisit the issue that their team was too small for this event- it had been poor planning. Bill was striding through the hall with that fake smile he plastered on his face when he spoke with clients, but he wasn’t his usual suave self… he was twitchy. He was everywhere at once, approaching members of the Anvil team and communicating face-to-face rather than on the radio, which is less noticeable to clients, and also more helpful to the team so that everyone knows what’s going on at the same time. It was another thing they could discuss tomorrow.

Frank refocused on the task at hand, trying to suppress the feeling that something was wrong. Unfortunately, the acid feeling in his stomach and the tingling up his spine were just not going away, in fact, they were growing. Something was fucking _wrong_ here. But all seemed calm, his team was perfectly in place. Billy was talking discreetly, but heatedly, to a few of the guys near the kitchens. _What the fuck is he doing? That is not the way to run communication at an event like this. Why is he…_

Karen re-appeared at his side, startling him. _Wow. If Karen can sneak up on…_

“Frank.” Her voice was off. “Something’s wrong.”

When their eyes met, several things happened at once. The horrible sound of gunfire pierced the air, people began to scream, Frank felt a hot burn across the side of his head, he grabbed Karen and slammed her to the ground, covering her body with his own.

Frank’s mind focused, razor sharp, in that moment. Someone had tried to kill him. The burn on the side of his head was a bullet graze, and like all head wounds, it was bleeding profusely. Karen was small and shivering underneath him, but bravely silent, resisting the urge to scream or cry like so many others in the room. _Good girl._

How the fuck did this happen? Where was his team?

Frank looked around quickly. He had been posted near a large decorative concrete planter full of flowers and tall leafy foliage.

“Come on, Karen. Come with me.”

In the melee of every thing going on, they crawled over to the giant display. Karen dove in and laid flat on her back. She was flattening the plants in the middle, but from the outside no one could see her.

“Stay.”

Frank scuttled, using the concrete as protection, pulled his gun. He needed to find out what happened to his team, get a count of threats, come up with a plan. Why hadn’t anyone radioed for help? Something in his gut told him to stay off radio, to get a visual assessment before breaking the silence. He peered around the plantar and his heart bottomed out into his stomach. There were men, it looked like- eight of them- holding the terrified party guests at gun point with assault rifles. But they weren’t just any men, they were _his_ men. His team. _NO. No, no, no._

“Ladies and gentlemen- can I have your attention… _QUIET_!” A familiar voice boomed over the PA system. Frank felt like he was in a dream- a nightmare. He risked leaning out a little further so he could get a good look at the stage.

There, under the spotlights, handsome as always, was – Frank couldn’t believe what he was seeing- Billy. He was standing up at the microphone, smiling that charming smile, looking like he was about to receive an award and give a speech. But there was a gun in his hand.

“Quiet everyone, quiet down. There’s no need to make a mess here tonight, you all look too pretty.”

The crowd quickly grew silent. A couple of the Anvil guys were quickly making their way through the crowd and around the tables grabbing everyone’s phones and wrist pieces into bags, and then they tossed those bags into the big fountain at the center of the room.

“This is going to be simple, I’m not fancy like all of you.” Billy said, still smiling, flirting with his terrified audience. “So tonight, you’re gonna get robbed, you’re gonna wait around awhile, and if you do what you’re told and play nice- you’re gonna go home tonight. You’ll have a good cry, and then forget about this. Hell, I doubt this will even make it to the Top 10 list of worst charity auctions you’ve ever been too. Ok?”

Bill smiled magnanimously out over the crowd.

“We’re not here for your purses and your earrings, so you can relax. We’re here for a few specific items, and if those items happen to belong to you… we’ll be in touch shortly. In the mean time, behave.”

Frank watched as the crowd seemed to settle down and accept their fate. Most of the Anvil men stayed in place, guns drawn. But two of them made their way to Billy and were looking at a tablet in quiet discussion.

Curt was missing. The realization stabbed Frank in the gut and his eyes frantically searched the room. _Please no, please…_ Finally, Frank spotted Curtis on the ground, grimacing in pain. It looked like his hands had been tied behind his back. He was bleeding- shot in the leg it looked like. At least he was alive.

It seemed like Frank and Curtis were the only people in the room who’d been shot.

_Bill._

Rage simmering, Frank tried to think, to muster a plan, but he couldn’t. He was to shocked, and furious, and… hurt. Since their time serving in the Marines together, Frank, Billy, and Curtis had been brothers. _Why would he do this? What the fuck was happening?_

SHIT. Bill and the two guys with the tablet were headed his way. With no time to make a better move, Frank crept quickly into the plants with Karen. He startled her, but she didn’t even gasp. _So smart, so brave._ In the center where they would remain unseen, there was barely enough room for one person, let alone two. Frank was directly on top of her, held up on his forearms to avoid crushing her, but completely invading her space. They were nose-to-nose, Frank’s hips cradled between her thighs. She was so soft. Frank’s forehead creased as he tried to convey with his eyes how sorry he was to be on her like this. Karen nodded, she understood. She even moved her hands, making fists in his jacket. Her eyes searched his face, worried. Frank realized that she was looking at the bullet graze on his head; it was still bleeding and must have looked awful. He tipped his mouth into a smile to let her know he was ok. He felt her sigh of relief under his belly. They were… very close.

Karen’s blood was buzzing. She’d thought about having Frank in this position too many times to count, but this whole situation was fucked. If she had heard correctly, it was Frank’s team doing this robbery. They double-crossed him. They shot him. He was acting like it was ok, but he was bleeding a lot. _My god, he's tough, he’s like a machine._ She shoved that thought away. It was too distracting, with him situated the way he was, and she needed to pay attention. Voices were getting closer. She felt Frank’s body tense.

“You had one fucking job to do, one fucking job. Where is he?” Bill hissed.

“You said shoot him- so I shot him.”

“What I said, was ‘incapacitate him’, shoot him in the leg or something- like Curtis. Not kill him- God, Lewis!”

“Well… he must have gotten away… so he’s not dead.”

“No shit. Now Frank Castle is in the building somewhere, thinking I tried to have him killed.”

“So… what do you want-“

“Go find him.” Bill’s voice was grim, “Find him, and finish it. It’s all fucked up now.”

Karen and Frank stared at each other, wide-eyed. Karen knew how much Frank cared about Billy, over the months she had heard enough stories to realize that Billy was a little brother to him. Her heart ached. She spread her had along Frank’s side, to comfort him maybe. Frank closed his eyes.

“Alright, its show time.” Bill said, for the first time that evening, using his radio to communicate to the team. “All team- proceed as planned. Variable- Frank Castle’s whereabouts are unknown- assume hostile. … Frankie, if you’re listening… I’m sorry. I didn’t want it to go down this way. Come find me, let me explain… we can be in this together, brother.”

Frank got the message through his earpiece while Karen heard it from the man speaking only a few feet away. Another voice she didn’t recognize piped in.

“Are you serious, Bill? If Castle brings himself in, would you let him join the team?”

“No, that’s not going to work out.” Bill said, his bitter voice ironic. “Frank doesn’t work that way. He, and Curt, and all the rest of these assholes here… they’re all gonna die tonight.”

Frank’s eyes snapped open as he and Karen communicated without words. Billy was going to kill everyone… they had to do something…

  
Suddenly, Bill’s voice was on the PA again. He must be back on stage.

“Alright, well done everyone. You really are well behaved boys and girls. I’d like to have a few words with the following people. You have nothing to fear- but if you don’t identify yourself quickly- things are going to get really messy, really quick. Don’t spoil our evening- just stand up as your name is called.”

The crowd was utterly silent.

“Thomas Crane, Mary Ellen Watson, Jackson Field.”

Bill looked out at the crowd, smiling expectantly.

No one moved. Bill’s smile didn’t slip.

“Come on folks, we can all walk out of here alive, or my team can paint the walls with your brains. What’ll it be?”

Slowly, three people rose from their chairs and were directed to meet Bill in the kitchen.

This was so fucked. Billy kept telling everyone they were safe- but all of these people were going to die. Unless Frank did something- _what? What?_ Ideas crystalized. _What should he do?_ Frank needed to get out of this room. _What were his advantages?_ He had the element of surprise on his side. Knowledge of the battleground... thorough research for this event had Frank knowing this building inside and out. _The security room. Three floors down._ It had cameras on almost every room in the building, as well as- if luck was on his side- some tactical gear and supplies. _How to get there when they couldn’t move without being seen?_

Frank leaned to one side to grab his silencer from his holster, practically burying his face in Karen’s hair. It smelled like coconut. He attached it to the barrel of his gun. Frank raised himself up as high as he dared, trying to get glimpse of something, anything that might be useful. He spotted a wall mounted fire alarm. Perfect. He took aim. Karen froze beneath him, not knowing his plan, but trusting him.

_Voomp._ He took the shot. The alarm shattered, and while people turned their heads to try to located the small sound, the lights flickered on and off and the sprinklers activated. The room erupted into new chaos, the Anvil team shuffled around to subdue it. 

“NOW, Karen, now. Come with me.”

She obeyed.

They quickly crawled out of the plants and ran towards an emergency stairwell, where it didn’t matter if they threw the door open because the building alarms were already going off. Frank was gripping Karen’s hand like a vice as they tore down the stairs. Suddenly remembering that Lewis was out here, somewhere in the building, hunting for him, he stopped short. Karen almost flew past him, but Frank caught her around the waist, gripping her body to his. She pushed against his chest, scared and confused.

“Shhhh. Shhhh. Wait. Listen.”

Karen held her breath, listening as hard as she could. When neither of them heard anything other than their own heartbeats in their heads, Frank loosened his grip on her and they proceeded down the last flight of stairs with caution. Frank took the lead exiting the stairwell. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he took Karen’s hand again and led her down the long hallway, breathing a sigh of relief when his security pass unlocked the door for him. He dragged Karen inside and closed the door quietly.

He took a moment, staring at the closed door. This was real. He’d been betrayed. Many lives were at stake. He had to fix this. He had to stop them. _Bill._

Frank could hear Karen moving around the room behind him. “Dammit.”

He turned to see her hanging up the landline.

“Phone line has been cut. I can’t believe left my phone at my table!” She swore again.

Frank’s head was starting to clear and he was really able to get a look at her. She was so beautiful, even all tousled and sweaty from the crawling and running. She was covered in blood. _NO_. A monster inside him roared to life and he was on her in a second, running his hands over her, looking for the injury.

“Are you ok? Where are you hurt? _Tell me where you’re hurt_ \- ”

“Frank.” He didn’t listen, so she grabbed his wrists, “ _Frank_. I’m ok- its not my blood, its yours.”

Her voice broke, tears threatened to spill down her cheeks any moment. “Are you ok? You’re bleeding so much.”

_Oh yeah._

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about that.” He watched her pretty face as she looked around the room. Luckily, the security room had everything he’d hoped it would have. She spotted a First Aid kit and stepped around him to grab it. Acknowledging the blood loss seemed to make it suddenly real. Frank felt light headed, woozy. He must have looked pale because after she set the First Aid kit down on the desk, she took Frank by both hands and led him to sit on the desk as well. She found some antiseptic and stepped up to Frank, between his legs to get close. She dabbed lightly at his wound and he winced. Her hands were shaking and a few tears finally overflowed as she worked on him. It made his gut twist.

“Don’t cry, its not that bad, Sweetheart.”

“Such a tough guy.” She said, rolling her eyes as they both smiled. They were quiet for a while as she finished up. Frank felt himself relax a bit, enjoying her light touches.

“Well, you’re not bleeding anymore. You were right, it looked worse than it was.”

“Head wounds can be like that.”

“Do you have your phone?”

Frank groaned, having avoided acknowledging the frustration about this from the moment he’d heard the first gunshot. “No. Right before I came here tonight, my daughter spilled nail polish remover all over it… fried it.”

Karen’s head quirked. “You have a daughter.”

“Yeah,” Frank looked away, seeming shy, and Karen melted just a little bit. “She was watching one of those goddamn youtube tutorials… I have a son, too.”

Karen took note the moment she met Frank that he wasn’t wearing a wedding band. Learning of his family made the investigator in her want to ask a thousand questions… but right now they had way more pressing issues.

She lowered her hands to his shoulders and shook her head. “So, we have no phone. Frank… what are we going to do?”

Frank watched her face for a moment before he brought his hands to her hips, squeezing gently before nudging her out of the way so he could stand.

“Well, Karen Page… it looks like you and me, we’re gonna have to kick some ass.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goddamn, he could really be a cocky swaggering cowboy when he wanted to be. And goddamn if it wasn’t really working for her. For the umpteenth time that night, Karen internally face-palmed to remind herself to stop it with the butterflies over Frank, and pay attention to this very dangerous situation they were in.

Watching Frank Castle think was more interesting than listening to most people talk. His face was so expressive, occasionally mouthing silent words to himself. He was constantly in motion.

Karen was glad for the distraction. She was scared and had no idea of what they should do next, but somehow Frank’s focus was soothing her. She watched him pace around the room exploring every nook and cabinet for… she had no idea what he was looking for. His face was grim. He must not have been finding what he wanted. He stopped and took off his suit jacket, then, scowling down at the blood on his crisp white dress shirt, he began shrugging out of his holster and unbuttoning his shirt.

Karen blushed and averted her gaze, rolling her eyes at herself. They were in serious danger. They needed to figure out a way to save not only their own lives, but everyone else trapped up there in the ballroom. She should be focusing on _that_ , rather than the butterflies in her stomach at the sight of Frank undressing. But she couldn’t help it. Karen had known many good-looking men in her life, but Frank was… delicious. Upstairs, hiding with him in those terrifying moments- she’d been afraid for her life, but still couldn’t stop herself from thinking that Frank felt so good pressed up against her.

She peeked back over at Frank. He was all clean now, in his suit pants and a tank top. _Oh, good grief._

Frank looked up and caught her gaze, held it long enough to make her gulp. His eyes scanned her and he snapped into action. She wished he would share his thoughts. She could practically hear his mind whirring, but had no idea what was going on in there. Frank was digging through the first aid kit and pulled out a sani-wipe. He ripped it open, took Karen’s face in his hands, and began wiping her cheek, her neck, her collarbones.

_Oh._

Karen realized he was cleaning her up, getting his blood off of her. His face was so serious. It was odd. It seemed like he was staring her down while at the same time, barely seeing her. Lost in his thoughts. He was close and his hands were gentle.

Karen shivered.

That seemed to snap him out of his trance. His eyes locked with hers and, all at once realizing how close he was, he stepped back and shook his head, cringing a bit.

“Uh- sorry, I just…” He didn’t really know what to say. Hands hovering over her as if he wasn’t sure he was allowed to touch.

“No, no. Its ok.” Karen’s voice came out in a whisper. She knew she was blushing like crazy. “… Thank you.”

Frank smiled at her and his gaze trailed back down on her shoulder, there was still a little red there. With one finger he lifted up the tiny strap of her dress, cleaning the last little bit with the slow rub of his thumb before letting the strap slide back into place.

“There. Good as new.”

Frank’s heart flipped in his chest for a moment. How many times had he thought about toying with that little dress strap? She was smiling at him with those pretty red lips.

 _“Frankie, Frankie, Frankie.”_ Billy’s voice burst into Frank’s head through his earpiece.

Frank started a bit, and Karen, realizing that he was hearing something on his radio, held her breath and kept silent so he caught every word.

_“I know that was you with the fire alarm, Frank. Not very nice. All these folks dressed up so nice- looking like a bunch of drowned rats. Rude of you.”_

Frank rolled his eyes.

 _“We’ve already called 911, told them it was a false alarm. There’s no cavalry on the way- do you get that, Frank? There is no one coming. Things are going to go the way I say. You can still be a part of this- just come in and_ talk to me, brother.”

Billy waited on the radio.

_“Say something, Frank- I know you’re listening.”_

Frank’s face was hard as a stone.

_“OK. What Frankie wants, Frankie gets. I’ll take your silence as confirmation that you don’t want in on this. I get it, man- I really do. Black and white, Frank Castle, always does what he feels is right._

_But listen to me now, and believe every fucking word I say. I’m going to get what I came here for. If everyone plays nice- no one has to get hurt. Do not mess with me. Do not try anything stupid. I swear to you Frankie, if you get in my way I’ll end you and all those soaking wet assholes out there in the ballroom. Stay out of my way.”_

The radio went silent.

Karen stared at Frank trying to read his face, but he was giving nothing away.

“What did he say?”

Frank shook his head. “Just some bullshit. Telling me if I stay put and leave him alone then no one will get hurt.”

“Do you think maybe that’s true? Maybe he just wants to rob these people, and once he gets what he wants he might let everyone go?”

He closed his eyes, thinking hard. “No. That just doesn’t… feel right. He told Lewis that everyone here was going to die tonight. He must be planning something.”

Frank scrubbed his hand over his face and hung his head. For a moment, he actually looked as wrecked as he felt. 

“I can’t fucking believe this. Bill… he’s family. An uncle to my kids…”

Karen’s throat closed up.The sight of him pierced Karen through. She laid her hand on his arm and squeezed, wishing she could get closer, hold him, but not knowing if now was the time. Frank’s big hand covered hers as he tried to shrug his way out of this emotional moment, when he froze.

“How did you know something was wrong?” His voice was hushed, intense.

Karen blinked at him, confused.

“Upstairs, when you came to me. You said ‘Something’s wrong’… how did you know?”

Karen gasped in understanding- suddenly remembering urgent details.

“Oh! Yeah. Well, the caterers here know me. They usually let me sneak into the kitchen to get champagne so I don’t have to stand in line at the bar- “ Frank rolled his eyes at her and she smiled, “-so I was trying to duck into the kitchen, but a bunch of random people were in there. They freaked out when I came in and pretty much threw me out. I wouldn’t have thought it was all that weird, but something seemed off. So, I snuck into the back service hallway and saw a couple of guys unloading these big duffel bags from the freight elevator… and I could tell something was wrong. I knew I needed to find you...”

Frank was hanging on her every word, eyes glued to hers as she spoke. His focus was so intense that she almost forgot what she was saying. Karen wanted to smack herself. _Get it together, woman!_ They were having a serious conversation about life or death issues. She should be focused _on that_ , and not on the fact that being the total and complete center of this man’s attention made her skin tingle all the way down to her toes.

Frank shook his head at her, “Too clever for your own good.”

She grinned back at him.

Frank turned towards the large wall of screens above the main desk and started tapping away at the keyboard. One of the monitors flickered to the security camera feed from the kitchen.

There they were.

Bill. One Anvil guy with a gun, a girl he didn't recognize at a computer station they’d rigged up on a workbench. It looked like they had three civilians in there. From what she could see, no one was hurt. Bill was talking to them, calm, that fake saccharine smile on his face. The three party guests looked like they were going to be sick.

“Dammit- I wish we had sound.”

Frank scowled at the screen for a few more moments then tapped at the keyboard again. Another monitor flickered to a feed from a back hallway. Nothing. He tried again. Empty corridor. He tried again- THERE. Two guys in Anvil uniforms carrying duffel bags up the service ladder… to the roof.

“Motherfuckers.” Both Karen and Frank shared the momentary elation of discovery and the immediate crash of dread. Those bastards were carry bags up to the roof above the ballroom. Bombs. It had to be.

“What do we do? _What do we do?_ ” Karen voice was high pitched, shocked.

Frank tore his eyes from the screens and took her hand, rubbing it with his thumb. “Its ok. Its gonna be ok… First of all, we get you out of here-“

“No fucking way, Frank!” She said, irritably snatching her hand back from him. His eyes widened, looking at her like she was out of her mind. “You’re going to need all the help you can get. Plus- I’m sure you know Anvil well enough to assume they have this building on lockdown. No one is getting out.”

Frank wanted to fight her. His chest started filling up with air and an argument- but she was right. Bill would have all exits secured. They didn’t have time to waste on that dead end. He deflated.

“Alright.” He said, raising his hands in surrender. “But I need you to stay here while I check out the roof…“

“Stay here?” Karen glared at him, temper flaring.

“You’re goddamn right- stay here.” Frank growled, bristling at her attitude.

“Screw that- I can help you!” She insisted, resisting the urge to stamp her foot. It would make her seem childish and he was already treating her like a child. He was pissing her off.

“No.”

Karen shook her head, obviously ready to argue. He stepped closer, right in her face, his voice dangerously soft.

“Look- look, I can’t go after these men and keep you safe. I can’t do both-“

“You don’t have to keep me sa-“

“What do you mean I don’t have to keep you safe? That is my team out there ready to kill all those people! MY TEAM!” As quickly as he’d started shouting at her, something shifted inside him- and it sounded more like begging. “Karen, I- I cannot let anything happen to you. I cannot let that happen.”

He leaned close, needing her to understand. “Please…”

He kissed her cheek. It was so soft and so quick- Karen would have thought she’d imagined it if it weren’t for the fire she still felt where his lips had touched her skin. She watched him and his eyes were deep and dark and pleading with her.

“Ok,” she whispered, anger evaporated.

His whole body relaxed, eyes softening, touching her cheek, feather light, with his thumb. Karen’s heart fluttered.

Frank bent down and when he rose back up she was surprised to see a gun in his hand. He must have gotten in from a holster on his ankle. He pinned her with a serious look.

“Do you know how to use a hand gun, Karen?”

“I’ve done a bit of paintball- does that count?” She asked, sassy enough to make him need to bite the inside of his cheek to fight his smile.

“Well, its time you graduated to the real thing.” Frank inspected the gun quickly, then held it out in his palm for her. “All you gotta do is pull the trigger.”

Goddamn, he could really be a cocky swaggering cowboy when he wanted to be. And goddamn if it wasn’t really working for her. For the umpteenth time that night, Karen internally face-palmed to remind herself to stop it with the butterflies over Frank, and pay attention to this very dangerous situation they were in.

“I think I can handle it.” She skillfully ejected the clip from the gun, checked her bullet count, and smacked it back together.

 

Frank had always found Karen to be an attractive woman. He wasn’t blind. But watching her handle that weapon so efficiently and then look up at him so smug... _Hell._ She was the sexiest woman alive.

He shook himself to re-center his mind on the task at hand. He shouldn’t be distracted by anything right now. Even if it was by the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, smirking at him, like she was taunting him, daring him. No. Now was not the time for playing around- he had business.

But… if they did happen to make it out of this alive, he was really going to have to do something about this thing between them.

Frank tipped his head at her appreciatively, “So, maybe it’s not your first rodeo?”

“Maybe its not.” She returned, eyebrows raised.

Frank wanted more time. He wanted to unwrap that like a gift. But goddammit- time was not something they had to spare. So he simply said, “Good. Stay put.”

She had a mysterious smile on her face. “Ok.”

“Ok.” He wished he could read her mind.

“Ok.” She whispered again, and he wanted to kiss her. Instead, he just looked at her a bit longer. She was beautiful. And funny. And brave. Before he could allow himself to waste another moment soaking her in, he pulled his gun from his holster, nodded at her one last time, and headed out the door.

 

The moment the door clicked behind him Frank’s senses sharpened. His ears heard everything; eyes darted in all directions gathering as much information as they could. He even felt like his skin was more sensitive- feeling the electricity in the air. He knew exactly how to get to that access ladder where his team was hauling those bags up to the roof, but he also knew Lewis was out there somewhere- hunting him. Frank had to go slow and silent.

Every second stretched. He stopped at each doorway and corner, listening, looking. His entire body was tensed, coiled, ready. At last, he made it to the ladder and luckily, the hatch to the roof was still open. One hand gripping his gun, he climbed up, stopping right before he got to the top. He could hear footsteps and voices. They sounded far away enough that, ever so slowly and carefully, Frank peeked his head up to get a look and ducked back down. He only saw one guy, but he’d heard talking… there might be someone else up there... Frank kept listening, waiting.

The footsteps move further and further away. He made his move. Frank sprang up on to the roof and rolled. The other man spun around drawing his gun, but before he could fire off a shot, Frank had him. One shot, one kill.

He got up from the ground slowly and walked over to take a look at the guy. Bennet. One of Billy’s latest hires… Goddammit. Frank could feel rage simmering the back of his mind wanting to boil over, erupt, and destroy. He told it to wait. He had shit to do.

Glancing quickly around the roof, Frank didn’t really know what he was looking for until he saw it. _There._ One big wad- a plastic explosive. Shit. As he approached it, his eyes kept scanning the roof and saw two, three, four more. Holy shit- Bill was going to blow a hole in Manhattan. Frank felt his whole body break into a sweat. He wasn’t an explosives expert, but he hoped to any god that might have been watching this shitshow that he’d be able to figure out this rig and disarm it. His knees creaked as he bent low to get a better look at the-

“Freeze, Frank. Don’t move.”

He knew the voice. It was Wesley. He’d worked with Frank for over three years. He had always been a little stiff, but he was a good guy- or at least Frank had thought so. Frank slowly turned his head, looking at Wesley over his shoulder. If looks could kill, Wesley would have dropped on the spot. Unfortunately, as lethal as Frank could be when needed, his glaring wasn’t going to kill Wesley- and there was no way in hell he’d be able to try shoot Wesley without getting a bullet between his eyes first.

“Toss your gun- that way.” Wesley gestured off to the side away from both them and the bombs. Frank obeyed, furious.

Once Frank was disarmed, Wesley ventured a bit closer- but didn’t get within arms reach.

“You should have sat this one out, Frank. Bill told you too. We all knew you wouldn’t want in on this job- but Bill didn’t want it to end like this.”

“This isn’t what Billy wanted, huh? I got a bullet graze on the side of my head that says otherwise.”

“You weren’t supposed to be here, Frank. Not you or Curtis. But you’re both so stubborn- can’t take a day off. Now you’re in our way- so it’s going to end ugly. No way around it.”

Frank needed to get Wesley to come closer, to slip up- but he was so angry he could barely think.

“Why is he doing this? Why are _any of you_ doing this?” Frank’s voice was ragged.

“Money, Frank. Just money.”

“So, what’s the plan here?” Frank spat, grasping, trying to draw this out. “It’s a robbery, right? Why the bombs? Why kill all these people?”

Wesley blinked at him.

“Smoke and mirrors, Frank. No one will ever know this was a robbery. The few people we’re stealing from here… are criminals. The millions of dollars I’m inheriting tonight are so dark and dirty no one will ever know they’re missing- or if they did, they couldn’t report it to law enforcement anyway. When these bombs go off it’ll look like a terrorist attack- so massive, many bodies will never be recovered… and a bunch of missing security guards won’t even be a blip on the radar.”

_Fuck._

“You won’t get away with it.” Frank bluffed, still trying to think of something, anything to get the upper hand.

“Yes, we will. And it’ll be easy.” Wesley narrowed his eyes at Frank. “The only thing complicating our situation- is you.”

Wesley was one of the most stoic men Frank had ever known. Here he was, about to kill so many innocent people, ready to shoot Frank in cold blood, and he was calm as a monk. It was reptilian. He wasn’t going to make a mistake that Frank could capitalize on. Frank heart stuttered. He knew he was about to die.

“No hard feelings, Castle.”

BANG.

Frank jolted, shocked by the gunshot. But the red wasn’t spilling down Frank’s chest… it was gushing down Wesley’s. Wesley fell to his knees and slumped over, revealing Karen standing tall with her arm outstretched gripping her gun so hard it was shaking. Frank would never forget the vision she made; it was seared into his mind forever. Karen, having just saved his life, standing there with the wind in her hair, her silky dress billowing around her legs where it slit to the thigh, her pale skin glowing in the moonlight.

It all happened so fast even though it seemed like slow motion, and then she tossed the gun away from her like it had burned her. She started towards Frank on wobbly legs. He was up and had her in his arms in an instant. She was unbelievable. She was an angel. She was shaking.

“A-are you o-ok?” She asked, voice trembling, but determined.

Frank leaned back to get a look at her, his hands moving up and down her body quickly as if to warm her up. Her face was ashen, her eyes watery, but she was there with him, fighting off the shock, even as her body was quaked in his arms. He didn’t have to ask her. Karen clearly knew how to handle a gun… but she had never shot anyone before. She’d never taken a life. She’d just changed her life forever, and she’d done it for him. His chest ached.

“Yeah, Karen. I’m ok.” He said, low and quiet. “Thanks to you.”

Karen tried to smile at him, but her teeth were chattering as if she was freezing despite the warmth of the summer night. Frank pulled her close, his hands still moving over her arms and back to bring warmth and to steady her. He brought her head to his shoulder and murmured ‘Thank you. Thank you.’ over and over again. He held her the way he’d wanted to hold her for months now. It was surreal. Getting this moment with her, under these insane circumstances- dreamlike. Her shaking kept him grounded.

“I didn’t stay put.”

Frank actually laughed. _Brave, beautiful woman._

“I can see that.” He said, leaning to scan her face. “Thanks for having my back.”

She smiled, her lips still trembling a bit. “No one’s gonna give you any trouble, Frank. Not on my watch.”

Boom. His heart pounded. This woman was something else. He needed to kiss her. She was staring up at him. All of his instincts shouted _GO_.

_“What was that?”_

Bill’s voice over the radio in crackled in Frank’s ear. He froze, listening, and Karen froze too, sensing he needed quiet.

_“I heard shots fired- someone report.”_

Silence.

_“Wesley, report….. Wesley, REPORT.”_

Silence.

“Shit, we gotta move.” Frank said, grasping Karen’s shoulders quickly. Leaning closer to double check in her eyes that she was ok, she was with him.

“They heard the gunshots, Karen. Guys are probably on their way already- but we can’t leave. We got four bombs up here- big bastards. I gotta figure out how to disarm them.”

Karen nodded and before he had a chance to say something calming or reassuring- she turned back to where she had tossed her gun. She grabbed it, already aiming back at the access ladder where the roof hatch still lay propped open.

“Ok. I’ll watch the ladder, Frank. You do what you need to do.”

His jaw could have hit the floor; unprepared for her readiness. But he had no time stand in awe of her, to express the crazy feelings threatening to burst his chest wide open. He nodded quickly and set to work, looking the first bomb over, hoping like hell he could figure this out.

Everything about this rig looked basic, nothing stood out… _so which fucking wire to pull?_ Frank wanted to smash his head into the ground- _think. Think._ He hadn’t worked with Bennet enough to know his tendencies, his modes. If Bennet had rigged these up- Frank was fucked.

But if it had been Wesley… Frank knew Wesley. Wesley had actually taught Frank a lot of what he knows about these devices. Frank looked at the wad with fresh eyes. The clean lines, the precision- the fastidious nit-picked perfection… this was Wesley’s cold-blooded craftsmanship. Frank could feel it- he knew. He racked his brain, trying to remember everything Wesley had taught him, his methods, his routines… _come on. Come on_. Frank’s eyes darted to the white wire. Every time he’d done a dismantling drill with Wesley, Wesley had him pull the white wires. Always white. Every time. A creature of habit if Frank ever saw one.

Frank’s heart started hammering. If he was wrong he would blow them all to hell. But if he didn’t at least try to diffuse this thing they were all going to get blown to hell anyway. He looked over at Karen. She was frowning in concentration, still watching the hatch. He had to keep her safe. Frank felt the prickle of sweat running down the back of his neck. His thoughts flickered to all those people in the ballroom. To his kids. He refocused on that white wire. It was his best guess and only gut feeling. He wasn’t sure if the desperate plea he was mumbling under his breath counted as a prayer- but he started a silent litany. And grabbed the white wire. And pulled.

Nothing happened.

Relief struck him hard, like a slap. It actually hurt.

He exhaled a ‘Thank God’ and carefully pulled the white wire out all the way and tossed it far so no one would be able to reassemble the fucking thing.

_Thank God._

He rose and Karen whipped her head towards him, instantly recognizing the satisfaction in his eyes. Her pretty red mouth split into a wide grin.

He was high on his relief and her smile. She was in his head. Under his skin. He’d never had this kind of chemistry with a woman. This seamless communication, this easy flirtation, this intense attraction that was softened by real affection- she was an anomaly. One in a million.

Frank grinned back at her roguishly and he darted over to the next bomb. When he finished with the fourth explosive he tossed that last white wire over the side of the roof. He had barely turned back around when Karen rushed him, throwing her arms around his neck in a hug that nearly knocked the wind out of him. He recovered quickly, feeling the same exhilaration she was. His arms crushed her even closer.

“Atta boy, Frank.” She whispered into his neck.

Frank felt his ears turn a little pink. He shook his head.

“We’re not in the clear yet. There’s another 8 guys here, all with assault weapons. We still got work to do.”

He felt Karen nod against his neck and unwind her arms from around him. He instantly missed her touch and her coconut smell. They cautiously walked back over to the access ladder. Once Frank had listened, looked, and made sure no one was waiting for them at the bottom of the ladder he climbed down and beckoned Karen silently to follow. Frank held out his hands and steadied her as she neared the bottom, though they both knew she didn’t really need the assistance. His hands glided over the silk of her dress from her hips to her waist. The view Frank had gotten of her as she descended… her dress, her ass, her legs, her… bare feet?

Once her bare toes hit the ground he took her hand, leading down the opposite hallway from where they’d come.

“Where are your shoes?”

She bit her lip in a smile that winced. “They were too loud… you would have heard me following you…”

Frank shook his head, fighting not to return her little smile, and she raised her eyebrows in a ‘sorry not sorry’ sort of way. He allowed himself a little laugh, he couldn’t help it. She was funny. And beautiful.

Karen laughed along with him until her face suddenly pinched in a gasp. She buckled in his arms.

“Shit! Sorry-” she squeaked.

Franks heart slammed against his ribs, not knowing how she was hurt. He held her tight, looked everywhere. He spotted a bloody footprint, she’d stepped on something.

“Dammit. Its ok Sweetheart, come here.”

He set down his gun for a moment and so did she. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her down the hallway a bit so he could set her on top of a laundry bin. Her arms were tight around his neck, eyes a bit watery. Her foot was bleeding a lot. He held it up to get a better look at it. Whatever it was that had pierced her foot hadn’t gotten stuck, so luckily there wasn’t anything that needed to be removed. He grabbed a clean towel from the nearby room service cart and quickly wrapped her foot, applying pressure to the wound. She hissed in pain.

“Sorry, Karen. Gotta apply pressure to stop the bleeding.” He said, cringing apologetically.

“It’s ok. I guess this is what I get for disobeying orders, huh?”

Frank huffed a harsh laugh.

“Nah. I’ll give you a pass on disobeying orders. But ma’am, ” He gave her a comically wolfish look over from head to toe. “this uniform is not regulation.”

She laughed. He loved that he could make her laugh. He was holding her foot in both hands, elevating it slightly, causing the slit in her dress to float open tantalizingly high. He knew she caught him staring at the expanse of exposed flesh, but she didn’t call him on it. Her cheeks became the prettiest pink. Enough already. Frank couldn’t hold back any more. He lowered her foot so he could finally sink his hands into her hair and kiss her breathless and-

BAM. He heard a door kicked open down the hall and footsteps approaching steadily.

  
They both jerked in surprise. Frank dragged her off the laundry bin and they both scrambled to behind it. It barely hid them. They were pressed together, shrinking their bodies as much as they could. Frank was furious with himself for setting his gun down. Both of their weapons were across the hall, at least 20 feet away. Useless.

Karen wasn’t making a sound, but he could see her pulse jumping in her neck. _Fuck! What the fuck were they going to do?_

“Frank?... Frank! I heard you down here.” It was Lewis. Shit. “I know you’re here man. Come out.”

Lewis waited. Neither Karen or Frank moved a muscle. They could hear Lewis’s heavy footsteps. Still pretty far away, but getting closer by the second.

“Frank! Come out now!” Lewis screamed, his voice shaky with adrenaline. “I’m gonna find you! You’re already a dead man- just COME OUT!”

Lewis’s boots were getting closer.

“I have to kill you- you’re screwing everything up!”

Frank was panicking- what the FUCK could he do? There’s no way Frank could get to his weapon. Lewis will shoot to kill the moment he makes a move.

“I said come out!”

The boots were getting closer, louder. Frank could hear Lewis’s breathing. He knew Lewis was a good shot… but he’d already missed once tonight- maybe he could try-

Suddenly, Karen took Frank’s face in both of her hands. Her eyes were on fire.

“Its going to be ok,” she whispered, rendering him paralyzed with the intensity in her eyes.

Before Frank had a moment to try to understand what she said, she kissed him. It was like being plunged under water, the rest of the world muted, swirled, and faded away. She pulled back as quickly as she had swooped in, hands still on his face.

“Come save me.” She whispered, eyes like blue flame. “Come save me.”

And before Frank could do anything other than watch in horror, Karen threw her hands up into the air yelling “Don’t shoot! Please, Please! Don’t shoot!” And she crawled out from their hiding spot, into Lewis’s line of sight.

“Freeze! Don’t move- who the fuck are you?” Lewis was shocked, unstable.

  
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Karen whimpered, “Please don’t shoot! I was just here for the party- I ran down here when all of the guys with guns showed up. Please don’t kill me! Please-“

“Shut up, lady! Are you alone?”

“Y-yes. I’m alone. I- I only had one ticket to this-“

“Have you seen anyone else down here?”

“No. No one.”

Frank’s heart was smashing in his chest from where he cowered, still hidden behind the laundry bin. He broke out into a full sweat. What the fuck was she thinking? Is she insane? Risking her life like this to protect him? If anything happens to her…

“Shit, lady, I don’t have time for this.” Lewis’s emotions were all over the place. Frank had no idea what he was going to do- it was agony.

“I’m sorry…” Karen simpered again, playing the terrified party guest perfectly.

“QUIET! Just get up…. I said get up!”

Frank could hear Karen get to her feet.

“Alright- walk this way. Come on, move it- I’m taking you back to the ballroom. NOW!”

Frank listened, mind reeling, as Karen limped down the hall. Lewis pressed the button for the elevator and forced her inside. The doors closed, and Frank was left, still on his knees, in deafening silence.

When he finally stood, it was like he was in a dream. He crossed the hall to their guns and grabbed both, putting the smaller one in his ankle holster, the larger one hanging in his hand like a lead weight. There was a trail of little bloody footprints leading to the elevator.

_Karen._

She’d saved his life. Again. How the fuck did he let this happen? What had she been thinking? She was crazy. He had to fix this. He had to save her. He had to take care of every last one of these scumbags that might hurt her.

He glared at the elevator door. Karen…

_I will come for you._


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He searched her eyes for a long moment, and Karen caught a glimpse of the real Bill behind all the false charm and swagger, she saw the cold, calculating, menace inside him.

When the elevator dinged open, Karen couldn’t have stumbled out quickly enough. Being trapped alone with this young man was terrifying. He was twitchy and wild eyed, breathing heavy. He seemed totally unstable, which was way worse than if he had been ominous and threatening. Karen could handle bullies, she could deal with with intimidation and even violence.  But this guy, he was unpredictable, she couldn’t read him at all, and that made him all the more dangerous.

Karen willed her body to move as he prodded her with the barrel of his gun though her limbs felt nearly petrified, and pain from the cut on her foot spiked up her leg with every step. The kid swore at her, ordering her to take a right, having no idea that she already knew he was leading her to the kitchens.

_What have you done, woman?_

She was inwardly thrashing herself. Of all the crazy stunts Karen had pulled in her life, and there were a lot, this one took the cake. The idea had burst into Karen’s mind through the haze of fear. Crouched there with Frank, hiding from this maniac, she’d been so sure they were both about to die. They’d been unarmed. Frank had looked… desperate. And suddenly she’d known what to do. She needed to get caught so Frank could get away. As long as Frank was ok- there was still hope for all of those people in the ballroom. She’d known it with a clarity that she’d never second guess. She’d known certainty, felt calm. She kissed him because it was obviously the thing to do in that moment. She’d handled it all for him, playing the weepy scared woman, keeping guns and eyes pointed at her so Frank had a chance to escape. It had been the right move. It had been easy.

Unfortunately, all euphoric assurance began seeping out of her the instant those elevator doors closed with Frank on one side, and her, this guy and his gun on the other. Her confidence drained away more and more as she listened to the his unsteady breathing, felt his irritation rise and fall from moment to moment. She tried not to make a sound as she walked, afraid anything would set him off. She was fucking crazy to have put herself in this position. As doubts about her decision swarmed in her head, certainty of one thing took root in her stomach. If she somehow did end up surviving all this... Frank was going to kill her.

“In there, go. Go!”

He shoved her through the kitchen doors. All eyes, and guns, pinned Karen to the spot. Her hands shot even higher into the air as the doors swung shut behind her.  

“Don’t... don’t shoot.” She said feebly. This time she didn’t need to fake the tremble in her voice, the tears filling up in her eyes, threatening to spill over.

No one made a sound.

After what felt to Karen like years, a man rose from a stool and offered her a broad smile. He was handsome, and tall, and though they’d never personally met, she’d known of him for months through conversations with Frank. _Billy._ The bastard behind it all. Though Karen was truly scared for her life at the moment, she had to fight to keep a sneer off of her face as he approached her.

“Well, well,” Billy gave her an appraisal from head to toe, his gaze catching briefly on her bloody foot before meeting her eyes again with that wide, falsely reassuring smile.

His eyes moved from her face to the kid behind her who still had his gun between her shoulder blades.

“Lewis, I thought I made it clear that we didn’t want any guests in here while we were conducting business.” His voice was light, friendly.  The smile on Bill’s handsome face didn’t change at all, but his eyes did. Karen could see the cold fury there. It was chilling.

Her captor, Lewis apparently, felt the sting.

“I- I found her downstairs… she snuck away somehow. I had to bring her _somewhere,_ right?”

Bill’s nostrils flared. He was barely containing his temper 

“Right. Well, why don’t you set our new guest over there with Curtis while we’re finishing up our business.” Bill’s eyes snapped back to Karen, and he leaned in very close, too close. “And she’s going to sit nice, and quiet, and not make a nuisance of her self.”

Karen nodded back immediately, the picture of frightened obedience. 

He grinned at her before turning and walking back to his “business”.  Lewis shoved her with his gun again, towards the corner. Her heart stuttered. There, on the floor, hands and feet bound, was Curtis. He was a mess; eyes bloodshot, mouth taped shut, and his leg… the rag he was holding to it was soaked in blood.

She sank to the floor next to him as Lewis directed her and Curtis’s eyes fluttered open. They went wide for a second, but he was smart and didn’t give any outward sign of recognition. Neither of them acknowledging that they weren’t complete strangers. Not that they were friends really… they’d only spoken a couple of times. But she knew that Curtis was Frank’s best friend, and that he teased Frank about her. She’d heard him a few times, calling her Frank’s _girlfriend_ in the teasing whine of a middle school bully. She’d loved seeing Frank’s reaction to that.  A nose twitch while he stretched his neck from side to side, possibly even the slightest blush at the tips of his ears. She’d liked Curtis the few times she’d met him, and even made a mental note to be extra sassy with Frank if Curtis was watching because she knew Curtis would tease the hell out of him. Seeing him now, weak and bleeding, made Karen’s stomach churn.

Curtis was sharp, she should feel his mind whirring beside her. He knew, if for some reason she’d been separated from the rest of the party for this long, she’d probably been with Frank. His eyes were burning holes into the side of her head, asking, begging to know if Frank was ok. She met his gaze, as discreetly as possible, and gave him a nearly imperceptible nod.  

His body sagged with relief.

Not wanting to be noticed communicating with Curtis, Karen looked away, taking in the scene in the kitchen.

Lewis was close, keeping his gun casually aimed in Karen and Curtis’s direction, but he was barely paying attention to them.

Across the kitchen was another Anvil guard. His gun was trained on the three party guests who were still here in the kitchens with Bill, each seemed to be at a different level of distress. There were two men, both appeared to be in their 40s or early 50s, both impeccably dressed. One’s face only read irritation, his brows arched, eyes rolling, seeming only a few seconds away from sarcastically asking if they were ‘done yet?’. The other, sweating profusely, face beet red, looking on the verge of a rage induced stroke. The woman seated between them was solid ice. She sat, straight-backed and dignified. She was definitely in her late 60’s or 70’s, and she wore her age like a crown. Karen would have admired her if she wasn’t 100% sure that the only reason she was sitting in this room was that she was some sort of criminal.

Bill was leaning down, talking lowly into the ear of the last person in the room, a punk rock looking girl on a computer. When the girl nodded, Bill straightened up again and smiled, his face mischievous and charming and slappable.

 “See folks? All done. So glad we could all play together so nice.” Bill gestured to the guard with the gun. “Take these folks back out to their seats.”

The guard nodded to Billy before barking “Move!” at the three. They rose and headed back out to the ballroom.   

When the kitchen doors swung closed behind them, Billy bent back down to the girl at the computer, again speaking so low that Karen couldn’t hear him. She chanced a glance at Curtis and her stomach sank again. He really wasn’t doing well. His leg was bleeding so much and the towel his bound hands were trying stanch it with was completely drenched with his blood. The shelving unit Karen was leaning up against had a bucket full of fresh rags. Without thinking, she moved to grab one for Curtis and instantly Lewis was screaming at her-

“Hey! HEY! Don’t fucking move!” His gun was back in her face. Karen’s skin smacked with electric fear.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She squeaked, hands up in the air again. “I was just reaching for some fresh rags! This guy- he’s bleeding really bad.”

She tilted her head towards Curtis.

“You don’t fucking move unless I tell you to!” Lewis shouted at her.

Karen cowered, squeezing her eyes shut, hoping to god this moment wasn’t her last. When would she learn to just lay low? Not just take blind leaps with her instincts that kept getting her into deeper and deeper shit.

 Suddenly, Billy between them, and Karen was repulsed that his presence was a relief to her.

Karen peeked up from underneath her hands to see Billy’s hand on Lewis’s shoulder, that ever present schmoozing smile still on his face.

“ _Easy,_ man. No reason to blow the pretty lady’s head off.” Bill winked at her, before squeezing Lewis’s shoulder again. “You need to cool off a little, Lewis. Go… I don’t know grab a drink from the fridge or something.”

He was so condescending, looking like he was two seconds away from ruffling Lewis’s hair and calling him ‘Sport’. But Lewis nodded once and took his leave, like a soldier. Maybe they were all ex-military…

Once Lewis had given them some space, Bill slowly crouched down to get a better look at Karen. Resting his forearms on his thighs, he loomed over her, cocking his head to the side.

“Sorry. My boy Lewis is wound pretty tight.” He whispered, conspiratorially, as if he and Karen had some sort of inside joke. Karen had no idea how to respond.

“What’s your name?” His voice was smooth, mellow, flirtatious.

Karen didn’t consider lying for even a second, he had access to the guest list after all. “Karen.”

“Ok, Karen. What were you doing downstairs?”

_Be careful, watch what you say._

“I was trying to get out of here. But all the doors were locked. I got a little… lost.” She said, hoping her voice was giving him the right ratio of docility and fear.

He let his gaze float over her, down to her bloody bare feet.

“Where are your shoes?”

“I- I couldn’t run in them.”

Bill nodded along. “What happened to your foot?”

“I stepped on something. I don’t even know what it was. Right before _he_ found me.” Karen’s gaze flickered over to Lewis, and back to Billy, who was frowning in a mockery of empathy.

“Probably should have been a good girl and stayed put in the ballroom, huh?”

Karen nodded back, compliant, while her mind screamed - _don’t talk to me like that you patronizing, asshole!_  

Karen looked away so he wouldn’t see the fight in her eyes, but he reached out and snatched her chin, forcing her face to angle up to his with a long elegant finger.

“Karen, did you see into anyone? Meet anyone while you were running around barefoot downstairs?”

“No.” She whispered.

He searched here eyes for a long moment, and Karen caught a glimpse of the real Bill behind all the false charm and swagger, she saw the cold, calculating, menace inside him.

Curtis moaned, causing both Billy and Karen to look over at him. Karen hoped she saw at least the tiniest flash of guilt in Billy’s face as he observed his old friend. He stood abruptly. 

“Alright, Karen. If you want to help him, help him.” He gestured to Curtis with his hand, not looking at him anymore. “You can help him stop the bleeding, but do not untie him. Do not do anything stupid, or you’re both fucking dead.”

Karen nodded up at him again and he grinned at her, shaking his finger at her like a teacher.

“Be good, Sweetheart.” And he strolled back to the girl at the computer. 

Karen moved to grab some clean rags for Curtis, making a mental note that she’d been called ‘Sweetheart’ many times tonight. Everytime Frank had said it, it had spread warmth through her, made her entire body glow. Hearing Billy say it made her want to scratch his face off. 

She crawled over to Curtis, not saying a word, but wailing at him with her eyes that she was so sorry, about _everything._ His own tired eyes were warm and steady. He understood.  

Karen looked down at his leg, the towel soaked in blood there, and had to fight a wave of nausea. She’d seen more blood tonight than she’d seen in the whole rest of her life combined. Her hands hovered him. 

“OK, here we go.” She whispered.

He nodded and lifted his bound, blood soaked hands from his leg. Karen grabbed the soggy towel, sickened by the way it squished in her fingers. She tossed it away and it slapped the ground where it landed. Moving as quickly as she could, Karen pressed the fresh, clean rags to his leg. She pressed hard, knowing it would take a lot of pressure to stanch the bleeding, and she winced at Curtis, hoping she wasn’t hurting him too badly. His breathing picked up, but he nodded at her, telling her it was ok, that he needed her to keep doing what she was doing.

They stayed like that for quite a while. Karen kneeling next to Curtis, pressing hard, stopping the life from flowing out of him, changing out the rags as they became drenched. After what felt like a thousand years, his bleeding had all but stopped. Red wasn’t surfacing on the new rags. Curtis was spent. It was awful to see him like this, a man this big, and strong, and alive, weakened by terrible blood loss and equally terrible betrayal. Karen wished she could do more. Wished she could at least remove the tape from his mouth. But she didn’t dare. Her eyes told him the thousand ways she was sorry and wished she could fix all of this. He blinked back that he was right there with her. He got it. 

Both Karen and Curtis startled as a man in Anvil gear burst into the room. He was out of breath, looking terrified. 

“Bill, Wesley and Bennet- they’re dead! And the packs… somethings wrong with them-” 

Karen caught Curtis’s eye with a meaningful look. If he could have grinned back at her, he would have. 

Bill kicked over his stool and swore. It was the first display of temper he’d shown all night, and it was frightening. He whipped around and glared at the other man- waiting, furious, for him to continue. 

“It was Frank, Bill. We saw him on our way back from the room the roof. And Kyle- Frank dropped him before he even saw it coming.” The man’s voice choked up. Clearly, this - Kyle - had been more than a co-worker, he’d been a friend. 

Bill was scowling at him, clearly not giving a shit about his emotional distress. 

“Are you saying you saw Frank- and you just let him get away?” 

The other man glowered back, anger rising. “Yeah, Bill. I ran like hell. I’m not trying to get in a shootout with _Frank fucking Castle_.” 

“You’re useless.” Bill shook his head, sneering at him. “Lewis!” 

Lewis stood up to attention, waiting on his orders.

“Get up to the roof and see if you can fix those bombs, we _need_ them to pull this fucking thing off. NOW.”  

Lewis nodded sharply and all but ran out the door. 

Bill’s hand moved to his heart, touching the radio piece in his lapel as he issued orders to his team. “All team, high alert. Frank Castle is on the offensive.”

Radio instructions finished, he turned back, snarling again at the other man who’d failed to kill Frank. “Get back in the ballroom and keep watch. Hopefully you can handle that simple task.” 

He nodded, taking his orders, but stopped mid-turn as his eyes locked on Karen. 

“What’s she doing here?” 

Karen froze. _What? Did he know her?_  

Bill frowned, annoyed. “What’s it to you?” 

“Isn’t that…” The guy looked hard at her, making sure he was certain. “Isn’t that Frank Castle’s little favorite?” 

Karen froze. _Shit._

Beside her, Curtis stopped breathing. 

Bill’s eyes panned over to her. He stared. She saw it in his eyes- the moment when he had it all added up. He shook his head.

“Get out.” He said to the other man without taking his eyes off Karen. The man did as he was told.

Bill walked toward her slowly. Karen’s heart was beating out of her chest. There was no escape. 

Bill crouched down again. Too close. His eyes taking their time drifting over her. 

“I thought I recognized you.” He said, so quietly he could have been talking to himself. “Frankie’s little girlfriend.” 

His gaze dropped to her leg, where the slit of her dress left so much of her thigh exposed. She wanted to cover up, but she was too scared to move. He reached out again, and took hold of her face by her chin. His silence stretched as he studied her, making her want to scream.

 “Such a pretty face.” He finally said, his thumb stroking her jaw. His eyes watching his fingers caress her skin. “A pretty face like that can let you get away with all sorts of lies. Trust me, I know.” 

Billy’s eyes snapped back to Karen’s. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think. _What the hell was he going to do with her now?_  

Suddenly, the agonizing moment was smashed apart as a riot of noise erupted in the ballroom. Shouting, screams, a loud crash, gunshot. Complete chaos in the ballroom.

Bill cursed and yanked Karen up by the hair.

  
  
  


 

Frank could barely move. He rolled his eyes at himself for the hundredth time as he shifted his shoulders and crept forward the glacial pace he was capable of. He couldn’t believe that with all of his training and experience… _this_ was the best idea he had come up with. Climbing into the air ducts and crawling through the ventilation system, hoping to get a high vantage point in the ballrooms so he could take these fucker’s out like the sniper he was. He had no choice. Everyone in the ballroom was still in danger. It wasn’t enough that the bombs were diffused. Frank knew all too well the damage assault rifles could do in a room full of people. No one was safe until he dropped every single body holding a gun.

 Frank went over it again in his head; the to-do list between him and ‘mission accomplished’. Bennet and Wesley were down. He’d taken out Kyle too, just a few minutes ago. There was Ken, Church, Wallace, Gil, and Terrance- hopefully they were mostly centralized in the ballroom. Frank shut the door to the part of his heart where he grieved that he knew the names and faces of the men he was hunting. They’d made their choices. They’d pay the price. Back to the to-do’s. The only guys left were Lewis and Bill. Frank thought of Curt and his gut twisted. _Hang in there, buddy. I’m coming for you._

Frank shimmied his way, inch by inch, through the vents making his way toward the light of from a grate that, if he had calculated correctly, was directly in the center of the ballrooms ceiling, slightly obscured by a chandelier. It took ages to get there, but he knew silence and stealth were top priority- so he didn’t rush it.

Once he made it to the grate he felt adrenaline wash through him, not only because he had relief from the smothering claustrophoia of the air duct, but also because the chandelier provided him good cover.

Frank set his gun down and fit his fingers into the grate wherever they would fit. Laying on his stomach the way he was, he had practically no leverage. All he could do was grip with his fingers as hard as he could and pry upwards. _Fucking hell._ This thing was stuck on there really good. Probably hadn’t been moved in fifty years since the last time someone dusted up here. Frank grit his teeth and pulled again, using all his strength. Sweating and cursing under his breath. Slowly, grindingly, the thing began to move. Frank was shaking with strain when it finally popped free, and his relief was instantly cut with fear that maybe he had made a noise or drawn attention to himself. He froze, holding the heavy grate hovering in midair listening for reactions from below. After a while of hearing nothing, he was satisfied no one had noticed him, and he silently set the grate out of his way so he could actually poke his head down and take a look at the ballroom through the cover of the chandelier.

He couldn’t help it. His first priority should have been scanning for guards and guns and evacuation possibilities, but all he was doing was searching for Karen. He couldn’t see her anywhere. _Why wasn’t she here? If Lewis didn’t bring her back to the ballroom… what the fuck had he done with her?_ His head started buzzing with dread. His thoughts started fuzzing, losing clarity. _No. Focus up. Do your job._

He’d fix this. All of it. He’d find her. He had to.

Frank shook his head and scanned the room again. This time, he was a sniper.  This was easy. Easy as breathing. Inhale and exhale. The five guards were spread, equidistant, just like they should be. Just like any good soldiers would be… if they weren’t fearing attack from above. If he was fast enough, he could get them all, right here, right now. He knew they’d hear the shots- his silencer could only do so much- but hopefully he could drop them all before they thought to look up. 

The radio suddenly crackled to life in his ear piece, it was Bill. 

 _“All team, high alert. Frank Castle is on the offensive.”_  

“You’re goddamn right he his.” Frank whispered to himself. 

He leaned on his side to get the perfect angle and his gut flipped for a second when the metal beneath him sagged a bit, but then it seemed to stabilize so he focused back on his targets. He aimed, he breathed.

Wallace, down. 

The shocked gasps and cries of the crowd were distant in his ears. He breathed.

Ken, down. 

People were screaming now, ducking under their tables. Frank shifted, aimed.

Gil, down. 

He was about to shift again when the metal supporting him groaned, buckled, and gave way. _Holy-_  

Frank fell from the ceiling, taking the entire chandelier with him. He couldn’t see anything through the glittering crystals. It was a 25 foot drop. He did his best to curl into a ball before he landed smack dab in the middle of a banquet table which collapsed under the impact. _Fuuuuuck…_  

He was winded, distoriented, aching and bleeding over his entire body. _Get up. Get up. GET UP!_ His body lurched out of the pile of shattered dishes, chandelier wreckage, and broken flowers. He couldn’t get his lungs to inhale. He was going to black out.  

Fighting the tunnel vision, Frank staggered to his feet only to be bowled over in a rugby tackle. It was Church. He had Frank on his back and was pummeling him in the face. Frank could barely fight back, still unable to breath properly. Church was huge, his brick-like fists wrecking Frank’s face. Pounding down on his torso with rib cracking blows. All Frank could do was raise his arms, attempt to block some of the hits.

_Come on. Come ON!_

Frank’s eyes locked onto his bleeding arm. There was a fork sticking out of his bicep. He yanked it out, and in less than a second, had it buried in Church’s eye. The man screamed and recoiled, clutching his face. That was all the opportunity Frank needed to buck Church up off of him, and hammer him twice in the ribs getting him to collapse on his side. Frank rolled out from under him, on to his feet, and in an instant had both hands gripping the giant's head. Frank gave Church’s head a savage twist, breaking his neck at the same time as he was finally, _finally_ able to draw a breath.

Frank gulped down air like he had been drowning, his vision still swimming.

“Fuck you, Castle!”

Frank spun around to see Terrance, taking aim. Frank dove away from the spray of bullets as Terrance waved his gun around like a maniac. Frank had to keep rolling and diving until he was finally able to get some real cover behind the fountain near the center of the room. 

“You think you can just fuck this up for us?” Terrance screamed, unhinged, between bursts of bullets. “You think you can just ruin all of our plans, you bastard? You think you can get away with that?” 

 _Enough._  

Frank pulled his pistol from his ankle holster, stood up, and planted one between the guy’s eyes before he could spout any more bullshit. 

“Yeah. I do.” 

You could hear a pin drop in the room as Terrance’s body hit the floor.

Frank looked around. 300 party guests, still dressed in their finest, just stared at him open mouthed. No one made a sound. No one moved. 

“Well…” Frank said to the room, raising his arms, then letting them flop back down against his sides. “... fucking _GO_ . You want a goddamn invitation? _Get the hell out of here!_ ”

The entire room, who had seemed to need his permission in order to escape with their lives, was suddenly scrambling for the doors.

“AND CALL THE GODDAMN COPS!” He shouted, shaking his head. _Civilians..._

Frank turned his back on the fleeing crowd and raised his pistol again. There were still four very important people unaccounted for. Lewis. Billy. Curt. … Karen. 

He didn’t know where to start and the fear that he’d wasted time, that he’d be too late for Curt or Karen ate away at his sanity like acid. His entire body felt like it was on fire from his fall, from the beating he’d taken from Church. He was covered in red. He shook his head. He could deal with all that later. He needed a focused mind. A clear head.

_Come on. Just like breathing. Inhale. Exhale._

The kitchen. It was the best place to start. He made his way to the door, listening for signs of life on the other side. He heard nothing. Knowing there was no really good way to do this, he kicked the door open and slid in on his knees, eyes wide, gun ready.

But there were no threats here. All was quiet. Frank stood and his eyes swept the room. It was just as he had seen on the security monitors downstairs, except Bill and all of the other people were gone. And the girl he didn’t recognize was slumped over her bloodspattered computer. The back of her head, a whole mess of red. Frank grimaced. _Bill… who are you?_  

Frank heard a scuffling in the corner and his gun was back up, aiming at the sound. Frank ducked around a long table to see- his heart constricted- Curt. Tied up, bleeding in the corner. Frank was on his knees ripping the tape of of his mouth as gently as he could. 

“God Curt, I’m sorry it took me so long, brother.” Frank’s voice was gravel, his hands moved to untie Curt’s wrists. 

“Its ok… Frank…” Curt was struggling to talk, his words coming out a little slurred.

“Shhh…. Shhh… its ok, buddy.” Frank was still wrestling with the knots. 

“Frank…”

“Don’t talk, brother. Save your-” 

“Karen-” Curt raised his voice, his freed hands making fists in Frank’s bloody tank top.

The word froze Frank solid.  

“Bill took Karen.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He braced himself against some floor to ceiling windows and knocked his head against the glass. He didn’t know where he was going. Karen could be anywhere. Bill could be… Frank shuddered. He had no idea of what Bill was capable of anymore. Where would Bill go if he knew all of his fancy hostages had escaped? Where would he take one lone human shield?

Frank heard Curt’s voice like it was echoing at him from the far end of a long hallway. Bill took Karen. _Why would he- What does he want with... What the hell is he going to do…_

Curt’s fists tightened their hold on his shirt, jolting Frank back to the present. _Focus._

“Where?” Frank whispered, eyes darting around the room. “Where?”

Frank zeroed in on a roll of duct tape, probably the same roll that had been used to tape Curt’s mouth. He grabbed for it and a couple of clean rags. Curt grunted as Frank tore away the bloody rags from his leg and inspected the gunshot wound there.

“Not sure,” Curt wheezed, speech labored. “I’m sorry, man.”

Frank nodded as he pressed new rags onto the red mess and began binding the wound, wrapping the duct tape around and around Curt’s leg so tight that he groaned in pain. Frank didn’t slow down or apologize. He knew Curt wouldn’t want him to.

“Why? Why would he take her?” Frank asked, needing the to know, even as he struggled with his friend’s bleeding leg.

Curt was silent. Frank slowed his work for a second to lock eyes with him, begging for information.

“Bill- recognized her.” Curt’s eyes glazed with regret. “He knows she’s… special to you.”

_FUCK._

Frank was winded, the air knocked out of him. He kept wrapping Curt’s leg.

Both men were a little worse for wear by the time Frank was done with his improvised binding.  Frank was breathing hard. He shook his head, feeling desperate as he attempted to hoist Curtis up off the floor. Curt could barely hold himself up. He was one of the strongest men Frank had ever known, and it scared him to feel how weak he was.

Frank had never been so torn apart by fear; not on the job, not even at war. He was not in control. He could hardly think. Curt was hurt bad. He’d lost so much blood- Frank needed to stay with him, to get him help. But- Karen. Bill had Karen… _What the fuck? Think, THINK!_

Frank half carried, half dragged Curt out of the kitchen, into the now empty ballroom. The taller man hissed in pain and reached for the nearest seat, next to an overturned table.

“Let me sit.”

Frank eased him down as gently as he could, having no idea what the next step was, how he could help, what the fuck he should do…

“OK. Ok. Leave me here.” Curt said, his tired eyes looking at Frank, giving him an order. “You go get Karen.”

Frank clicked his tongue at that. “I’m not leaving you-”

“Go, Frank- she needs you.”

Frank wanted to smash something. “I can’t just leave you like-”

“Goddammit, Frank- _I got my shit_ . You think I can’t handle _my shit?_ ”

Curt’s eyes were blazing, daring Frank to contradict him, looking ready to punch him in the face. It was such a familiar sight, it made Frank want to laugh.

“Go get your girl, Marine.”

Frank’s pulse boomed. He was right, Curtis was always right. He had to go find Karen. Now.  

He grabbed Curt by the shoulder and got right up in his face. “I’ll be right back.”

“I know.” Curt said, giving Frank as much of a smirk as he could muster.

The two men stared at each other for a few more moments, saying all of the silent things that brothers can communicate without words.

Frank turned and scrambled over to the nearest body of a fallen former Anvil agent. He crouched and grabbed the guy’s guns, tucking a pistol into the back of his pants and slinging an assault rifle over his shoulder. Then, with one quick nod back at Curtis, he took off.  


 

Frank was running. He kept running through the dark hallways until his lungs burned and his body felt on fire with pain. The motion felt right, he needed to _GO_ , to _find her._ The pain ate away at his fear. But eventually, his muscles were shaking and the tactician in his mind was screaming at him to STOP. _Think!_

He braced himself against some floor to ceiling windows and knocked his head against the glass. He didn’t know where he was going. Karen could be anywhere. Bill could be… Frank shuddered. He had no idea of what Bill was capable of anymore. Where would Bill go if he knew all of his fancy hostages had escaped? Where would he take one lone human shield?

Frank’s mind was a fog. No goddamn idea. Both hands flew up and scrubbed his face in frustration, grabbed his hair, almost knocked out his earpiece.

His earpiece. Shit.

Frank quickly ran his hand over his chest. Thank god. Some crazy how- his radio lapel mic was still attached to his destroyed tank top.

 _“Bill.”_ He growled over the  radio.

He waited.

Silence.

_“Goddammit, Bill. You’ve been wanting to talk all night. Now you’re playing hard to get?”_

Frank had no plan. He was operating on instinct. He waited in the silence, his stomach aching more and more as each second stretched. _What if Bill was gone? Could he have gotten out of here somehow?_

 _“Come on, Billy Boy.”_ Frank said, his voice growing louder and angrier with each word. _“You got nothing to say to me? Nothing? BROTHER?”_

He spat the last word like it was poison in his mouth.

He waited again. Dreadfully certain that Bill wasn’t going to-

 _“I told you and Curt not to come.”_ Bill’s voice was cold, restrained.

Hope surged through Frank right along with his anger, _“Is that supposed to be some kind of excuse?”_

A long pause.

 _P_ _lease… Please keep talking, you asshole._

_“I told you both not to come on this job. But, classic you, can’t take a goddamn night off. You should have stayed home with your kids tonight, Frank. It didn’t have to be like this.”_

_The fucking balls on this guy…_

_“Well, like you said… classic me. I’m the fly in the ointment, Bill. The monkey in the wrench. The pain in the ass.”_

“Ain’t that the truth.” Bill said, and Frank could hear the smile in his voice. The fondness. It broke his heart and made him all the more furious.

Frank started walking. No particular direction in mind, he just needed to move. He had to keep Bill talking as long as he could, had to get him to slip up, say something, reveal anything that might help Frank find him. Find Karen.

 _“Its over, Bill. Your crew is dead. The ballroom’s empty. I’m sure somebody’s called the cops by now. Its over. We need to talk- for real.”_ Frank gulped, unsure of himself. _“Where are you?”_

 _“Uh, uh, uh.”_ Bill scoffed in a sing-song voice that made Frank want to knock all the teeth out of his head. _“I know what you’re up to. You and me? We have nothing to say to each other. You won’t listen to me, and I sure as fuck don’t want to hear whatever you have to say. But, that’s a moot point, isn’t it? You don’t really want to talk to me- you want to check in on your girlfriend. Right?”_

Bill’s voice was breaking up a bit, cracking over the radio as he laughed.

_“You want to say hi to your little favorite, Frankie? Come here, Karen. Say hi.”_

Frank’s heart slammed against his lungs. He waited. There was only silence. He could picture her now; her big blue eyes glaring angrily at Bill, lips pressed shut in defiance. Too brave for her own good.

 _“I said, say hi, Karen.”_ Bill’s crackling voice sounded angrier over the radio.

More silence.

Frank heard the sound of an impact. Her cry of pain. Fury exploded behind his eyes.

 _“Goddammit, Bill! DO NOT TOUCH HER.”_ Frank roared over the radio, feeling just as helpless as he felt enraged.

 _“You took something from me tonight. Something important to me.”_ Bill’s voice crackled loud in Frank’s ear. _“I’m just returning the favor.”_

The radio went silent.

“ _Bill._ ” Frank waited, horrified. _“BILL!”_

Nothing. Bill was done talking.

 _Shit, Shit, SHIT._ Bill was going to hurt Karen. He already did.  Frank’s heart clenched in his chest. _I’m so sorry, Karen. Hang on._

Bill hadn’t slipped up at all. He’d revealed nothing… other than the fact that he definitely still had Karen. Frank squeezed his eyes shut. _Think, goddammit, THINK._

Wherever they were was far enough away that Bill’s radio was crackling, almost out of range. This hotel had good radio coverage. The only place it got patchy was… the parking garage.

Frank’s eyes flew open. That was it.

He took off.  
  
  


 

Karen held her aching cheek and glared up at Billy from the pavement. He’d hit her with his gun hand so hard that she’d actually fallen to the ground. Now that he was apparently done talking to Frank, he looked so pissed off that Karen wasn’t sure she should try standing up yet. She didn’t think it was a good idea to get within arms reach again.

After Bill had dragged Karen out of the kitchen, he’d physically thrown her into a service elevator with him. He was completely silent, which scared Karen more than if he had been screaming. His eyes were cold, his mind clearly racing, trying to figure out his next move.

Karen’s skin was prickling, her fingers and toes were like ice. The chaos they’d heard in the ballroom- that could have been Frank saving the day. Or… he could have- Karen snapped her eyes shut. Refusing to entertain the idea that he was hurt, or worse.

_Frank, please be ok._

When Bill shoved her out of the elevator, he kept his grip on the back of her neck even though he had his gun pulled and there wasn’t a chance in hell she was going to try to escape. He propelled her forward, forcing her to almost have to run to keep up with his pace. As it began to dawn on her that Bill was leading them to the parking garage, Karen’s heart sank into her stomach. _Shit._ What if he drove away with her?

Billy kicked open the door to the garage. It was eerily quiet in the vast lot, the only sounds were the echoing clicks of Bill’s Oxfords on the concrete, and the softer padding of Karen’s bare feet. It was so quiet that Karen could hear the buzzing of Billy’s earpiece when Frank was calling him on the radio. She hadn’t really _known_ it was Frank, but Billy’s reaction convinced her that her hunch was right.

When he had taunted Frank, ordering her to speak- Karen held her silence. _Fuck you!_ There was no way in hell she was going to give this asshole the satisfaction of hearing her whimper over the radio, tormenting Frank. Though now, the stabbing pain in her jaw made her second guess her choices a bit.

Bill dragged her back up- _by the hair again, dammit_ \- and marched her forward.

They were on one of the middle floors of the parking garage and it was completely empty, save for the large van with the ANVIL logo.

When they reached the van, Bill shoved her a few feet away with a quiet, almost polite sounding, “Stay.”

He kept his gun trained on her as he unlocked the back and swung both doors open. Karen froze, letting her eyes scan the space for anything, _anything_. But there was no escape. There were emergency exits all over the place, but she’d never reach one alive. She looked out the sides of the garage, over the ledge only a few feet away, into the open air, the glittering, semi-darkness of New York at night. They were several stories up. Karen could see lights in the windows of adjacent buildings, but the sounds of the city were muffled. For a brief moment Karen felt that heady, touristy feeling she’d had so often when she first moved to New York. The awe that the city was such a big, frenetic place. All this had happened tonight, but to her millions of neighbors- this was just another Wednesday.

Billy’s motion caught her attention again. He was lifting something out of the back of the van- shrugging it on like a coat. She felt a wave of nausea.

_Oh god, no…_

Bill turned back to her, his face grim and resolved. He was wearing a suicide vest. The detonator, with three wires running to it, had replaced the gun in his hand.

Karen held up her hands. “Please. Please just let me go.”

Bill shook his head.

“Not gonna happen, Sweetheart. I’d get too lonely without you.” His sarcasm stung.

He walked up to her, not stopping at a normal distance. Not even stopping when he was way too close. He was in her face, the explosives on his chest brushing hers.

“Something about you… I have a feeling you’re going to keep me safe.”

Karen hoped the look she was giving him was a defiant glare, and not wide-eyed fear.

“Come here.” He said, moving his hand to the small of her back and ushering her towards the van as if they were on some sort of twisted date. “You see this here? Peel it off.”

Karen looked to where he was gesturing on the side of the van. She had no idea what he was talking about until she stepped right up close to the van. _There._ The ANVIL logo wasn’t actually painted on, it was applied, like some sort of giant sticker. She ran her finger over the edge to feel it, looking back at Bill, confused.

“Yeah. Peel it off. Now. And do it fast.” He ordered. One hand still gripping the detonator, the other reaching into his pocket for his phone and thumbing it on.

The thought that he might just be taking a break to text someone in this moment made Karen want to laugh. He scowled at her.

“Get to work. NOW.”

Karen turned back to the van, running her finger tips along the edges of the logo, looking for any place she could sink her nails into.

“Faster, Karen.”

_Asshole._

She started scrabbling at the thing with her fingernails until finally something caught and she was able to start peeling the cling off of the van in strips as it tore away. There was something underneath the Anvil logo…  It was like - medical symbols. An emergency services logo. _Holy shit._ Bill was going to drive right out of here looking like an EMT.  

She turned back to him, eyebrows raised. “Clever.”

Bill looked up from his phone, grinning at her like a fox.

“Hey, I didn’t make it this far in life on looks alone.” He shrugged. “Although- they’ve helped.”

Karen stared at him. For the briefest moment seeing the smart, funny, charming little brother Frank had always described. It broke her heart a little bit. She knew she should play it safe, not press him with the thousand questions sparking up in  her reporter’s brain. But she couldn’t help it, she wanted to understand.

Before she had the chance to ask him anything, the nearest Emergency Exit door slammed open and Frank limped into the garage screaming, _“BILL!_ ”

In an instant, Billy grabbed Karen, forcing her in front of him like a human shield, holding her by the throat. She could feel the bombs on his vest pressing into her back, could feel his entire body tense against her, almost shaking with adrenaline. She didn’t have a moment to focus on her own predicament though, once she laid eyes on Frank. What the hell had happened to him?

He was covered in blood. His face was mottled with bruises and cuts, one of his arms was bleeding really bad. His tank top that had been such a crisp white only an hour or so ago, was now completely brown with dirt and red with blood. His limp was pronounced as he walked. He was really hurt.

_Oh, Frank._

They locked eyes and he winced. It was hard to tell who was apologizing more profusely between both of their pained looks.

At almost the same moment that Frank appeared, the sound of sirens howled through the night air. Suddenly the dark parking garage was washed in flashing red and blue lights. Somewhere far below, the cavalry had finally come. But it did nothing to soothe Karen’s fear. She was standing between two men, and was pretty damn sure only one of them was going to make it out of here alive.

“Let her go, Bill.” Frank said, his voice low, as non-aggressive as he could manage. “This is between you and me. You and me.”

“Put the gun down. Slowly, Frank. Kick it over here.”

Frank did as he was told without hesitation.

“Ok. OK. Now let her go.” Frank had his hands in the air. Eyes wide, all compliance. “Just let her go.”

“No, she stays with me. You see this?” Bill waved the detonator in his hand. “It’s a dead-man’s switch, Frank. Anything happens to me- she dies.”

Karen’s stomach flipped over in her belly.

“Why do you even have that thing?” Frank glowered at the explosive vest. “You had Wesley make it for you?”

Bill huffed.

“Yeah. That cold-blooded son of a bitch had a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Made me all sorts of things.”  Bill said, and Karen felt his hand tighten slightly around her throat.

“Well, too bad I had to go and break all your toys on the roof. Now Wesley’s laying up there in a pool of his own blood, along with all those white wires I pulled out. Such a shame.”

Frank looked directly at her when he said _‘white wires I pulled out’._ His gaze boring into her before he looked back at Bill. She’d felt him shouting with his eyes. He was trying to tell her something. Karen was sure. She couldn’t move her head with Bill holding her by the throat, but she used her peripherals to glance at the detonator in Bill’s hand. There were three wires running to it; red, black, and _white_ . She glanced back at Frank. He was staring at Bill, but he nodded and Karen knew it was meant for her. _Oh fucking shit- he wants me to pull that white wire…_

She felt sweat roll down her back.

“Fuck you, Frank.”

“Yeah, fuck me.” Frank shook his head. “What is this all about Bill? Why the hell are you doing this?”

Karen reached, as slowly and imperceptibly as possible, up towards the wires.

“Why am I doing this? Because it was my chance to get more. To get everything!” Bill growled. “I’m not like you, man. I can’t just come home from war, from all the fucked up shit we went through over there, and be satisfied with _normal life_ . Coming home from work, making diner, watching TV with the kids… that’s not for me, Frank. I need more. I deserve more. _I earned it._ ”

Karen’s fingers found a wire, she watched as Frank never looked directly at her, but shook his head. _Not that one, Karen._ She let that one go and her fingers carefully searched for another wire….

“You earned it, huh?” Frank scoffed, disgusted. “You earned the right to kill a ballroom full of innocent people? Are you out of your goddamn mind?”

“Oh, come on. You know as well as I do- _no one_ is innocent. Especially the rich assholes at a events like these.” Bill spat. “Why do you think I picked this one? Half the people in there were knee deep in blood, corrupt as fuck.”

Karen felt another wire, held it, watching Frank. Again, he kept his eyes on Bill, but shook his head for her sake. _No, Karen._ Her skin prickled as she dropped that wire and continued reaching for the last wire. She was terrified, knowing any moment Billy could notice, despite Frank’s best efforts to distract him.

“So, you think that gives you the right to kill them, Bill? Hundreds of people?” Frank’s voice was low again. More disappointed than angry.

“I’m a soldier, Frank. I kill people. Made my peace with that long ago. So did you.”

Karen’s hand kept searching.

“So, it doesn’t bother you? Killing Curt?” Frank grit out. “Killing me?”

“I didn’t want it to go down this way.”

“Yeah, sure you didn’t. But then we got in the way of what you _did_ want, and we were just… what? Collateral damage, huh?”

“Something like that.” His voice turning colder, meaner.

Karen’s fingers found the last wire, her eyes darted to Frank. Finally, he looked at her, his eyes screaming _YES_.

Bill, unaware, kept up his monologue. “At first, I didn’t know what I was going to do with you two… and then I just thought- hey, let’s make some lemonade. If the cops pull a few Anvil bodies out of the rubble, it’ll seem even less likely that we were the ones behind it all. Quick thinking, huh Frankie?

“NOW, KAREN! DO IT NOW!” Frank shouted.

Karen pulled the wire.

And in the split second it took Billy to realize what happened and click the useless detonator in his hand a few times, Frank pulled a gun from behind his back and shot Bill in the throat.

Blood instantly bubbled up on Billy’s lips as he gasped and staggered back. He was stumbling toward the open air ledge of the garage. Bill lost his hold on Karen’s throat, but had grabbed her wrist in an iron grip. He was dragging her with him. Bill took one last lurching step backwards and lost his balance completely, pitching himself over the ledge. Karen screamed. She could feel herself following him over the edge, pulled by her wrist, careening to her death. But then Frank was there, his arms locked around her, grounding her. She clung to him like a lifeline as Frank ripped Bill’s fingers away from her. And suddenly she was safe, and Bill was falling.

  
  


 

Frank would never be able to shake them image from his mind. He’d remember it for the rest of his days. Bill’s face, eyes bugged out, falling, falling, falling. He’d stared straight up, eyes locked with Frank the entire time.

_Bill._

Frank couldn’t dwell on that now- he had other concerns. The beautiful woman shivering in his arms, for starters.

He spun her around and clutched her to him. Heart hammering with how close of a call that had been. How fucking grateful he was that she was ok. How much it meant to him that she could read him so well, she’d been inside his head, reading his thoughts. How ferociously he wanted to kiss her.

She was clinging to him just as hard. Not giving a shit that he was covered in blood and dirt and who knows what. They were both shaking, vibrating together. He sunk his fingers into her hair and made a gentle fist so he could tilt her head up, look into her eyes.

She was crazy beautiful. Her big, blue eyes a little glassy, but burning him with their light.

“You okay?” He asked, the hand in her hair squeezing a little bit tighter.

“Yeah.” She breathed. “Thanks to you.”

Her fingers fluttered to his chin, to behind his ear, to the nape of his neck.

His eyes dropped to her mouth. _Jesus…_

He leaned in.

_“FRANK!”_

They both spun towards the sound.  

It was Lewis, breathing heavy, wild eyed- his AK leveled directly at them.

 _FUCK!_ Frank had tossed his gun the moment Bill toppled over the ledge and grabbed Karen. There was nothing he could do but curl around Karen, hoping that any bullets would sink into his body, spare hers.

BANG.

For the second time that night, Frank heard a gunshot and waited, wondering why he hadn’t died yet. Cautiously, Frank loosened his hold on Karen and they both peered over his shoulder to watch Lewis drop to the ground, eyes vacant and unseeing. A few feet behind him, gun still drawn and looking ready to collapse himself, was Curt. He smiled at them for the briefest moment before sinking down to the floor.

“You’re welcome. I need a goddamn ambulance.”

  
  


They ran into SWAT when they got to the first floor. Frank and Karen, both injured, were struggling to carry Curtis, who was bigger than them both. Karen couldn’t have been happier to see the police, despite the frenzied couple of minutes, of everyone shouting _“Freeze!”_ and _“Don’t shoot!”_ and _“He needs a doctor, goddammit!”_

Once they’d passed Curt on to some medics, Karen wished she could go with them to make sure, _very sure_ , that he was really going to be ok. But she couldn’t risk leaving Frank’s side right now. She knew, from the look of her, that it was obvious she’d been a hostage party guest. But Frank, bloodied and beat to hell, looked a little suspicious. She wouldn’t leave his side until she knew that every single officer on the premises understood Frank’s innocence. That he’d saved all of their lives tonight. She clung to him, and he clung right back, seeming to need a bit of her strength after all that had happened.

Luckily, Karen didn’t have to do too much defending though. Apparently, whoever had finally called the police had described the situation and had also given a thorough depiction of Frank saying “He’s the good guy.” Also- it turned out Frank was acquainted with half of the force anyway, so he hadn’t really needed her help.

It didn’t matter. She was happy to stay with him. To hold his hand as he seemed to unconsciously tighten his grip or rub her knuckles with his thumb as they made their way through the madness of the ballroom that now crawling with police and detectives. They answered questions here and there, Frank doing most of the talking. Alerting this officer that there were dead bodies in the parking garage, that officer that there were diffused explosives on the roof, another one that there was a computer in the kitchen that should be looked at. He was calm and detail oriented. Karen could see all of his military training shining through, but she could also see the exhaustion in his eyes, somehow, all of this talking was more draining to him than a gun fight.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. He turned and just looked at her. Karen felt a rush of blood to the head. No man had ever looked at her like this before. No man could have. Just Frank. With one look, he could make her whole body sing. She wished they could just go somewhere. That they could be alone.

Out of nowhere, suddenly bright lights were in their faces and a voice Karen knew all too well oozed into the shape of Ray Schoonover, _The Most Trusted Face In Nightly News._ Or so said his sizzle reel.

Karen loathed the man. As a journalist herself, she took the role of a reporter very seriously. She worked mostly in print, but had a great respect for the power of televised journalism. Ray Schoonover represented everything wrong with news these days. He focused on juicy gossip rather than the truth. He cared more about having his face on TV than actually reporting. Most of the times they’d crossed paths Ray would somehow schmooze his way into beating out Karen for an exclusive. When they did actually manage to run with the same stories, Karen’s truthful, responsible reporting was typically ignored in favor of his dramatic, speculative spin on things.

Ray strutted over to them addressing his cameraman. “Alright, now I need to be in the foreground of the shot- but make sure to get both of them in the angle too. We need to see all the blood.”

Karen’s skin crawled and Frank tensed next to her.

“And we’re live in 3-2-1!” The cameraman called, and Ray turned on them with his smarmy grin.

“We’re live on the scene at the Tristan Hotel, where local reporter Karen Page has survived quite an ordeal. Karen, what happened here tonight?”

He shoved his microphone in her face. She rolled her eyes.

“No comment.”

Schoonover frowned and barely stopped himself from scowling at her before remembering he was on camera and turned to Frank.

“And you must be Frank Castle?”

Frank just stared at him.

Schoonover pressed. “My sources tell me that your security company Anvil, is to blame for all the madness tonight. Do you feel in any way responsible?”

Karen  moved before she could even think. She punched Ray in the face. He crumpled with an undignified sound, grabbing his bleeding nose and glaring at Karen, gobsmacked.

She didn’t retreat, she stood even taller. “Frank Castle saved hundreds of lives tonight. He’s a hero.”

She tugged on Frank’s hand and he followed her as she stormed away. Behind them she could hear Schoonover ask his cameraman “ _Did you get that?”_ and then several officers descending on the newsmen, forcing them off of the scene. It was an active crime scene… how the hell had he gotten in there anyway?

She was still fuming when Frank squeezed her hand, she looked back to find him smirking, his eyes glittering at her from under raised eyebrows.

“Hell of a right hook, Karen.” He smirked.

“Yeah, well… he deserved it. And you _are_ a hero.” His eyes softened, and she wanted to kiss every bruise on his face. “And Frank, when you do give an exclusive- it’s going to be to me.”

“Anything you say, ma’am. Just don’t clock me in the face. Don’t think I could survive it.”

They both laughed.

“Miss Page. Mr. Castle. A word.”

It was one of the detectives. He approached them, looking thoroughly annoyed at having just kicked reporters off of his crime scene.

“I’m Detective Mahoney.”

He shook both of their hands.

“I know you both have had a hell of a night… but I’d like to keep you here until we debrief you.”

Karen tried not to roll her eyes, the detective was just doing his job, and he seemed like a good guy.

“So, where should we go?” she asked.

“Well, the hotel greatly appreciates your service- having saved them from being blown up and all. They’ve offered us the Presidential Suite for the debrief.” Mahoney said, with an understated smirk. “Though, I’m betting you both can probably have free rooms here for life if you want them. One of the owners was a hostage here tonight. Says she saw you fall from a chandelier? She’s a big fan.”

Karen stared at Frank doe-eyed.

“Alright, let’s get this over with.” Frank said, in the grumpy voice he used to with other people, but never her.

“Good. We have medics up there, waiting to take a look at you too, Mr. Castle.”

Frank sighed. “Great.”  
  


 

The suite was lavish and beautiful. Karen felt it was all surreal. Sitting here now, in this decadence, sipping sparkling water and munching on one of the chocolate covered strawberries that had been waiting for them  when they’d arrived. All this, after the night she’d had… maybe she’d taken a knock to the head and this was all a dream.

But, if this was a dream her face wouldn’t hurt this much, and her entire body wouldn’t be aching… and she’d probably be naked with Frank in the gigantic walk in shower she was sure existed somewhere in the depths of this suite.

She’d been describing here evening, blow by blow, to detective Mahoney. She’d gotten a little emotional telling him how she’d shot a man tonight, on the roof. She was suddenly afraid. But the understanding look in the detective’s eyes told her he understood. She’d made the right choice. She’d taken great care to describe the three hostages who had been in the kitchen when she’d arrived, knowing they had to be important somehow, when Frank finally returned.

He’d been forced into the bedroom by a no-nonsense nurse the moment they’d arrived in the suite. Karen hadn’t wanted to be separated from him, but she knew he needed to be looked at. She could hear him, every once in a while, surly, bickering with the nurse. Both she and the Detective had smirked at each other, trying to keep it professional, not to laugh at Frank’s dilemma.

Now he entered the sitting room all cleaned up, wearing a comfy looking pair of sweats and a T shirt that the nurse must have brought with her. Frank probably would have preferred the shirt to be a size or two bigger, but Karen was not complaining. It clung to him like a second skin. He looked delicious. She was practically wagging her tail at the sight of him.

He headed straight for Karen and joined her on the couch, not sitting at a polite, respectable distance, but right next to her, touching her, looking two seconds away from scooping her up and plopping her right onto his lap. She wouldn’t have minded.  His eyes were tired, but they ate her up, roving over her from head to foot cataloging every cut, scrape, and bruise. His gaze flickered to the dark purple swelling along her cheekbone and the cut in her eyebrow from where Bill had hit her. He winced, searching her eyes with his, asking her 100 silent questions, 99 of which were variations of _“Are you absolutely 100% sure you’re ok?”_

She smiled at him. He watched her mouth.

The nurse strolled out of the room a few moments after Frank, and rolled her eyes, smirking at the moon-eyes Frank was giving Karen. At their proximity.

“I think he’ll survive.” The nurse said to Detective Mahoney, catching Karen’s attention. She looked up. _Wow, that nurse is really beautiful._

“Thanks, Claire.” Said the Detective fondly, they must be friends.

“Oh, by the way, you two. I got word that your friend, Curtis Hoyle is recovering really well. They’re going to keep him at Metro General for a few days, just to keep any eye on him in case of infection, but he’s going to be fine.” Nurse Claire said, and then smiled directly at Karen. “You did a great job, ma’am. Just at the right time too.”

Karen smiled back, pleased at the news. Frank stilled.

“What?”

“Oh, you didn’t know?” The nurse quirked her brow at Frank. “Curtis said he was only minutes away from bleeding out when Miss Page saved him. She insisted on stopping Curtis’s blood-loss even while being threatened at gunpoint. She saved his life.”

Karen thought that made it sound way more heroic than it actually was- but she didn’t get a chance to say so- because suddenly Frank was kissing her. He was devouring her. One hand in her hair, the other gripping her waist desperately, his fingers kneading, grasping. Karen had never been kissed like this in her life. Kissed like she was someone’s oxygen, someone’s water, like she was the source of life itself. And dammit, she couldn’t help it that the Detective and the Nurse were there in the room with them, she moaned. She moaned in a way the would have embarrassed the shit out of her if this man’s hands, mouth, and body pressed against her hadn’t completely short circuited her brain. She kissed him back with equal fury, digging her fingers into his hair and grabbing on.  Again and again, his mouth passed over hers. It was so good. Too good.

“Hey now! HEY!” It was Detective Mahoney.

Frank and Karen broke apart and peered at the Detective who sat only a few feet away. Karen, flushed and embarrassed, released Frank’s neck. Frank was flushed too, but looked more annoyed than embarrassed as he eyed the detective and allowed a little space between himself and Karen. Not much, just a little.

“No more of that until we finish the debrief.” Mahoney said, clearing his throat awkwardly.

Karen finished her story in a haze. It was hard to concentrate with Frank staring at her the way he was. His arm was draped around her on the back of the couch and he was tracing little patterns on her shoulder with his fingertips.

Then it was Frank’s turn, and she’d thought she’d known most of it- but _holy shit._ Crawling through the air vents and falling 25 feet from the ceiling through a chandelier? She tried to contain her gasps and extra questions, but wasn’t doing a very good job. Both Frank and Detective Mahoney were humoring her after a while, allowing her to ask more questions than Mahoney. In the end, Frank sobered a bit, recounting Bill’s death. She squeezed his hand in support and he latched on to her fingers gratefully, needing the connection. He stared at their joined hands as he talked, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb.

When Mahoney felt he had enough, he stood to take his leave, reminding them he’d be in touch for follow up statements. They both shook his hand and he turned to leave with a wry smile as he shut the door.

Alone. They were finally alone.

The air between them was suddenly dense. Electrified. Karen turned to Frank. There, in his eyes plain as day, was how much he wanted her, how much he cared, how scared he had been, and how relieved he was now. She saw all of it in those brown eyes, and wondered what he saw in hers.

She saw a little self consciousness in there, too. As bold as he had been with the nurse and the detective in the room, now that they were alone, he seemed a little shy. It made her melt. Karen leaned in and brought her lips to his. Not in the big, passionate kiss he’d wanted, just the slightest brush of her lips.

Then she stood and sauntered across the room, around the couches and the console table, to the door. She took her time, with a sway in her hips. She let him watch. This had always been her favorite dress, and if she guessed right, it was his favorite too. It was a bit tattered now, she’d never be able to wear it again. Might as well give it one last show.

When she got to the door, she took the ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign, and after flickering it in her hand a moment, for Frank’s benefit, she opened the door and hung it outside. She closed the door. And locked it. And turned to face him.

_Your move, Frank._

He rose. He came to her, slowly. Not because he was trying to make her watch, but because he had a bit of a limp.

He reached for her face first, tracing his thumb lightly over her bruised cheek before tilting her mouth to his. The focus in his eyes made her skin sparkle. His kiss wasn’t as frantic as before, but it was just as intense, just as stirring. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close. Karen swayed into him, not allowing an inch of separation. She kept her touch on his skin light, not knowing where he was injured under that tight shirt, but she allowed her hands to sink into his hair, to really grab hold. Judging by the way he groaned and tangled his tongue with hers, he was not opposed to hair pulling. He pressed forward, pinning her to the door.

His mouth on hers was a miracle. She loved the way he kissed, it was overwhelming, and honest. His hands were setting her on fire everywhere he touched. Truthfully, she’d been ready for him since the moment he’d kissed her on the couch, and she was so revved up now that she could barely stand it. Frank had no idea- it was going to take almost nothing, barely a touch, and she’d be _done._

Frank’s eyes were glazed when he finally broke away for air, his pupils all blown out. It was a good look on him, despite all the bruising on his face. The look in his eyes made Karen want to get on her knees for him. She ran her hands along his waist. Slipping her fingers beneath the hem of his shirt so she could feel the bare skin of his belly, his hips, the small of his back. His nose twitched and he stared her down.

His gaze flickered to the tiny strap of her dress and lingered there. He brought his hands up to her shoulders, toying with both little straps before looking back up into her eyes again.

“Can I?”

“Yes.” And she was surprised at the breathlessness of her own voice.

Frank hesitated just a moment longer, and then, with a single finger, he brushed the straps off of her shoulders and the whole dress floated down around her, into a pool on the floor.

He smiled at the small pile of fabric in a way she couldn’t understand until he peeked up at her.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

Karen felt like she was glowing, glittering. “Really? You’ve thought about this?”

Frank gave her a look like, _are you kidding me?_ Before kissing her soundly and retreating again.

“Yeah, Karen. I’ve thought about this.”

And she might have tried to question him more, if it weren’t for the look on his face as he finally took in her body. Frank was so easy to read and Karen blushed at his open approval. She was pretty much naked under the dress, save for the tiniest pair of black lace panties. She’d thought of Frank when she’d chosen them tonight. Not that she’d thought anything was going to happen between them, but just because she liked to feel sexy whenever she saw him. And now they were here, and he was staring at her naked body in those panties, taking her in like she was a work of art.

His breathing got heavier and suddenly he was kissing her again, his hands everywhere, spinning her around until the small of her back hit the console table behind the couch. He grabbed her ass, lifting her like she was nothing, and sat her down on the table so he could stand between her legs. He groaned, but it wasn’t in pleasure.

Karen broke away from his kiss in a second.

“Hey- are you ok?” She panted.

“Yeah.” He nodded and latched his mouth onto her neck.

But Karen wouldn’t be that easily distracted.

“No - seriously- what’s wrong?”

“I- uh-” He shook his head a little, trying to think straight. “I kinda fucked up my shoulder.”

“Frank! No more lifting me! I don’t want you to get hurt any worse than you already are. Maybe we shouldn’t-”

“YES we should.”He kissed her, stopping her from saying one more word. His kisses were drugging her, making her forget what she’d been trying to say. He kissed her again and again and again, between whispering, “Yes we should. Yes we should.”

“OK. Yes. Yes we should.” Karen agreed, almost moaning. “But maybe we should move to the bed.”

“In a minute.” He murmured, and then his mouth was on her breasts and she had nothing else to say.

She sighed and tangled her fingers in his hair as he dragged his mouth across her chest from one breast to the other. His hands caressing and massaging every inch of her, moving down to her hips and grabbing on to those little panties, pulling them down and off her legs before she even knew what happened.

And finally. _Finally_ he touched her, and he growled at how soaking wet she was, how hot.

He had no idea. Frank had no fucking idea how ready she was. At his first touch she whined and his focus shot up from between her legs to lock on her face, surprised, almost in awe of her reaction. He circled his finger slowly, and ground his teeth at her response.

Karen was lost. She was his, all his. She was clutching at his forearms, grinding against his hand, whimpering and gasping at his touch.

“Please… please, Frank.” She begged, she couldn’t help it.

“I gotcha.” He whispered, breathing almost as heavily as she was. “Come on.”

Karen stiffened, barely able to draw breath.

“Come on, Sweetheart.”

And the little endearment was all it took. She went off like a rocket. Moaning so loud they could probably hear her in the hallway. Frank drew it out, guided her through it, and only stopped when she finally yelped in a way that he could tell was too much. Then he was kissing her again, holding her, stroking her, soothing her.

“God, Karen. You make a guy feel like a damn hero.”

She laughed at that, blushing like crazy.

“You are a hero. You’re my hero.”

She kissed him, and kept on kissing him until she felt like her legs would be able to walk straight. Then she maneuvered him enough so that she could hop down from the table, and took a few of his fingers, leading him to the bedroom. He followed willingly. When she peeked at him over her shoulder she found his eyes glued to her ass. His nose twitched again and he stretched his neck from side to side.

When they finally reached the bed she rounded on him. Her fully naked, him fully clothed. She smiled at him as she slipped her hands under his shirt and gave it a tug. He understood and moved to rip it over his head, but in the end it took both of them to get the damn thing off because of his various injuries. Karen finally got a look at him and was a little shocked. Oh, Frank. There were cuts held together with butterfly bandages, and he was more bruise than skin.She wasn’t even sure where she should touch him, if she should touch him at all.

Her dismay must have shown on her face.

“I’m ok, Sweetheart. It’s not that bad.” His voice was soothing, cajoling.

He didn’t want this to stop just because he looked like shit. And Karen wouldn’t do that to him. To both of them.

So she just said, “I’m so glad you’re ok.” and she kissed him. “So glad.”

She kept kissing him as her hands went to work on the string of his sweats, kept kissing as they hit the floor and he stepped out of them.

“Lay down.” She whispered, and he obeyed gladly. He groaned, settling his head on the pillows and sinking into the plush hotel bed.

As obviously injured as he was, Frank was hard as hell, and the mere sight of him made Karen’s skin tingle. She stretched out next to him, leaning over him, bending to kiss his chest lightly, careful of the bruises. Her hair dragged over his sternum. She licked his nipple and smiled when he twitched. She began cautiously running her hands over him, staring at his beautiful battered body, watching him watching her. She’d wanted to get her hands on him for so long. She was savoring this.

“Frank, your body is-” She paused, searching for the right word.

“Beat to hell?” He joked.

“Well yes- it is right now.” She smiled. “But even still, you’re beautiful.”

Frank squinted at her, his mouth twisting in a wry grin, thinking she was teasing him.

“Believe it.” She said, as she finally wrapped her hand around his cock and have him one long stroke.

He closed his eyes at the feeling, but she waited until he looked at her again before giving him another stroke. She wanted to make sure he understood.

She was sure she was blushing like crazy, but she needed to tell him, needed him to know- this wasn’t just happening from some adrenaline fueled “we escaped death” fluke. She’d wanted this, wanted him for so long.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this. To see you. To touch you.” She started stroking him again. “So long, Frank.”

Frank’s hips started slowly thrusting into her hand, but his eyes were locked on hers.

“What?”

“I’ve wanted you. From pretty much the first time we met.” She breathed, reveling in his reactions. His abs bunching and stretching as he thrust into her hand a bit harder.

“Karen- really?” He was almost panting.

“Yes, Frank.” She grinned at him. “You think you were the only one who ever thought about this?”  

Frank’s jaw went slack, he was hanging on her every word.

“The first night we met, when that asshole grabbed me… You took me to the kitchen. You put ice on my skin. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve thought about that?”

Frank grunted.

“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve imagined you spreading me out across that kitchen table? How many times I’ve been alone... in bed… and just had to-”

“Fuck.” He breathed, and quickly pulled her hand away from him. His eyes were clenched shut, he was breathing hard. Karen could almost come herself, watching him so turned on.

“You talking like that is gonna make me lose it.” He said, when he was finally able to form a coherent sentence. “And I don’t want to lose it until I’m inside you. If- if that’s ok... ”

Then he paused, looking at her like he was hoping he hadn’t crossed the line.

“That’s more than ok, Marine. That’s an order.” She smiled, while he laughed and shook his head.  

She moved to straddle him, but then suddenly she hissed in pain and sank back down on her side. “Ow shit!”

Frank was instantly alarmed, his hands hovering over her, not knowing where was hurt.

“Sorry! It’s nothing too bad!” Karen squeaked quickly, noting the concern on his face.

She gave him a frustrated look, but couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.

“All I want to do is ride you right now, but my knees are crazy bruised and hurt like hell.”

She started laughing, and that got him started too.

“Well, maybe it wasn’t meant to be. I got some bruised ribs, and if you started riding me, it might damn near kill me.”

They burst out laughing again.

What followed was the most ridiculous conversation Karen had ever had, with them trying to figure out how they could possibly fuck without hurting each other. It had them both belly laughing, tears streaming down their faces. This was the silliest, most joyful moment Karen had ever had in bed with a man. She was pretty sure she fell in love with him right there.

In the end, they settled on the safest way, the sweetest way.

Karen was on her back with Frank _finally_ between her thighs where she wanted him. Little bursts of laughter still bubbling out of them as they kissed and writhed against each other. He was over her, every inch of their bodies aligned, touching, rejoicing.

_Frank._

  
  
  


_Karen._

The night had gone. It was early morning now. The sky was all yellows and pinks. Karen looked like an angel in this light. Smiling up at him. Making him so damn glad to be alive. Had any woman ever smiled at him like that in his life? Would he have noticed it if they did? No. It was Karen. Just her.  

That was the last thing on his mind before he sunk inside her. He entered her slowly and didn’t stop until he bottomed out. _Fuck,_ she was a perfect fit. And not just because she felt so good around him, or because her hands on his skin were heaven and her kisses were life. It was everything about her. They way she thought, and spoke, and understood him. They way she made him laugh. It was perfect. She was perfect.

He was moving inside her, loving the way she met him at every moment, the way she egged him on. She bit down lightly on his neck and he groaned, snapping his hips faster, loving the way it made her gasp and whimper. She arched her back in the morning sunlight; Eve taking her first breath. So fucking beautiful. It had never been this good before. Maybe _he_ had never been this good before.

_“Frank.”_

_Fuck._ She was moaning his name. _Don’t stop, baby. Please don’t stop._

He wanted it. He needed it. He needed to watch her come with his name on her lips.

“Yeah, Sweetheart.” He murmured in her ear, curling over her so he could thrust even faster for her, give her what she needed. “Say my name, Karen. Say my name when you come.”

Frank was giving her everything he had, making savage sounds of his own. And she was so sweet, doing just ask he asked.

“Frank, Frank, _Frank_.”

It was driving him fucking insane. He kept going, needing to get her there before he lost it.

“Frank!”

She lost her rhythm, stiffened up. _Yes, baby. Come for me. Come on._

She snapped. “FRANK!”

The sound of her, the feel of her. It all sent him over the edge and he unravelled completely. And he saw new colors, everything new, now that he knew it could be like this. 

When he came to his senses, he rolled off of her, but pulled her close. Kissing her, soothing her, making sure she was all good. The smile on her face told him she was.

They laid there for along time. Touching and learning each other. Eventually she scampered to the bathroom, and when she returned, she had an opened bottle of champagne in her hand.

“I love this place!” She giggled as she curled back into his side.

She took a long drink straight from the bottle. _Goddamn,_ this woman was sexy as hell. When she finished, she grinned and handed him the bottle. He took a pull, too.

When he lowered his arm she was staring at his bicep, at the gnarly puncture wounds in it. She frowned.

“What the heck is that from?” she asked.

Frank shook his head, feeling absurd even saying it.

“I- I got a fork stuck in me.”

She stared at him, completely stoic for a good five seconds before they both burst out laughing again.

“Wow.” she eventually wheezed, through her giggles.

She leaned over and kissed the wound lightly, to make it better. The gesture was so unexpected and sweet that it made his chest ache.

When he felt like he’d be able to speak without sounding all choked up, he took her hand, kissed it, laid it on his chest. She was watching him with that open face of hers. Ready for anything.

“You know, Karen,” Frank cleared his throat, suddenly nervous. “You and me? I think… this could really be something.”

Hope slammed into him as he saw joy light up her eyes.

“You know, Frank. You and me?” She said, mimicking him. Teasing him, even as her eyes screamed sincerity. “This could be _everything_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! Thanks so much for reading! 
> 
> TO everyone one who read and enjoyed this piece- thank you so so much! It was a delight to write! I've never really tried to write "action" before- so if you have any comments regarding those scenes or anything else, I'd totally appreciate them. Even if you didn't like something- its so helpful to know:) 
> 
> Thanks again for spending time with me here!! I appreciate it more than I can say!


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